F1 drivers talk about less powerful DRS zone in F1 Italian GP and if that bodes well to have it that way going forward.
The Italian GP at Monza held last weeked had an interesting scenario where DRS was a touch less powerful than other circuits. Quite simply, it was all down to the low downforce set-ups and the skinny rear wings that the teams opted as per the circuit layout.
But thanks to this, there was more activity into the braking zones instead of overtakes on the main straights which has been the norm in previous grands prix. There were far less overtakes than what was seen at Zandvoort which raised the DRS question.
Even though Monza is such a circuit but the case scenario of having a little less DRS for the way forward in F1 popped up again and some of the drivers don’t feel it that way. They know following has once become a bit difficult this year which means DRS is needed more.
“No, I think in most tracks, we still struggled to follow or pass,” said Max Verstappen. “I mean, at the beginning of the year, a lot of people were complaining about passing. Of course, we had the luxury being a quick car, we could still pass like in Miami. I think everyone was complaining in Miami about the passing – remember in the briefings – with DRS? I think the cars are getting more and more efficient and they have more downforce”.
“So it’s harder to follow and then they’re more efficient on the straight. And yeah, of course naturally here there’s less DRS effect because there’s almost no wing on the car. But I think it really depends on which track. Also here, for example, if Carlos, he was putting the car in the middle under braking into Turn One, it’s almost impossible to do something, because if I go for it and he just moves a little bit to the right, there is no space anymore. So, for me, there was never really an option to actually fight in the braking zone. In Singapore we will need more DRS than the straight allows,” summed up the F1 champion.
His teammate Sergio Perez concurred: “I really agree. I think, definitely less DRS is not the way forward. I remember we were discussing to actually increase the effect because yeah, the cars are getting harder to follow. I think here, the DRS effect like Max says is really, really small. So, I don’t think in other places we can race with less DRS. If anything, we needed the DRS more in some places to be able to have better racing”.
Both the Red Bull F1 drivers were backed up by Carlos Sainz too. “No, I think what you saw in Monza is a bit of a coincidence where we had a lot of top speed with no DRS,” he said. “And Red Bull had just enough top speed with DRS and slipstream and battery to get to us under braking and that generated a good fun battle”.
“But in 99% of the tracks, I think we’re going to need DRS and we’re going to need a powerful DRS because these cars from the beginning of the year, like Max said, it’s starting to become a bit like 2021 or 2020 where it is difficult to follow. Obviously Monza is a special case because you don’t only have the DRs, you also have very long straights of slipstreaming, which helps a bit more the car behind but I think in the rest of the tracks, we’re going to need the DRS.”
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