The race weekend starts this Friday! The queen of motorsport - Formula 1 - returns to Australia - the birthplace of famous Jack Brabham, Alan Jones, Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo. Like all racing drivers, these Australians were and are great fans of speed and overtaking, and the new configuration of the track in Melbourne provides an opportunity to reach new heights in this business. In addition to the fact that some sections with slow turns turned into straight lines, 4 DRS zones will be presented on the track for the first time in the history of F1! In this regard, motorsport fans have a question: is not it too many? Because so many DRS zones may affect the strategy of teams and tactics of riders who can turn the race into a game of dangerous giveaways in attempts of trying to skip the opponent before the start of the DRS activation zone.
Spoiler alert: No.
Of course, fans have reasons to think that way - after all, a kind of giveaway game was marked by the fight for the win between Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc this year in Jeddah and Sakhir.
- The fight between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen in Sakhir. Overtaking Max in the first zone of the DRS and the subsequent successful counterattack by Charles.
However, to start with: how does the DRS system work and why can it be potentially dangerous? In simple words, on every Formula 1 track there is a DRS zone in which the rider has the opportunity to open the rear wing, thereby increasing the speed by 10-25 km / h, thus preventing a decrease in speed due to the so-called "dirty air" that falls on the rider from the opponent going ahead. The opening of the wing allows the rider to bypass the forward-looking opponent. In order to be able to open the wing, the pursuing pilot must be less than a second away from the defending pilot when crossing the DRS opening zone. Thus, it becomes more profitable to be behind when crossing the DRS zone - after all, an open wing is practically a guarantee of overtaking, and the opponent may not have the opportunity for a counterattack.
- "Dirty air" phenomena explained. DRS allows to overcome the "dirty air" problem.
Thus, a race track consisting almost entirely of DRS zones can be dangerous for racers - after all, each of them will slow down in an attempt to let an opponent pass before crossing the DRS zone restriction line. And early braking is fraught with the fact that the pursuing rider may not expect it, which can lead to an accident of two cars, which can later result in a massive accident in the case of heavy traffic.
However, it is worth looking at what the DRS zones in Melbourne are. When considering the legend of the route, it becomes clear that there are 2 DRS detection zones for 4 DRS zones. Thus, the 4 DRS zones in Melbourne are, in fact, two long DRS zones, and the configuration of the track and the absence of detection zones between each of the DRS zones will not allow pilots to conduct instantaneous counterattacks, for which they brake before the line of the DRS activation zone.
Hence, 4 DRS zones are the classic two DRS zones, so there is no need for fans to worry. The formal increase in the DRS zones to a record four is due to the desire of the track management and Formula 1 to increase the average speed and entertainment of the race - some turns have become wider, some chicanes (a sequence of tight twisting turns) have been removed, the pitlane (the place where pit stops are made) has been shortened, and the permissible speed on it has been increased to 80 km/h compared to the previous 60 km/h. The measures taken in relation to the pitlane potentially increase the number of pit stops, which, in turn, adds entertainment and an intriguing component to the race. It is worth remembering that in the entire history of racing in Melbourne in the framework of F1 there was only one (!) overtaking on the lead.
In conclusion, fans should not be worried because of such a seemingly anti-racing decision of the racing directorate - the absence of slow chicanes, a shortened and accelerated pit lane, and, finally, the 4 DRS zones I discussed mean that a high-speed and interesting race awaits us in Melbourne. We wish good luck to Australian Danny Ricciardo on his long-suffering McLaren and victory for Charles Leclerc! Forza Ferrari!