One of the trends in this championship has been the FIA’s continuous revisions of DRS zones, aimed at finding the right balance between making overtaking too easy or too challenging. Often, the governing body has shortened or extended the areas where the drag reduction system can be used, particularly to adapt these zones to the introduction of ground-effect cars.
Between 2022 and 2023, the FIA experimented with new DRS activation points on various circuits, but the results were not always as expected. As a result, the governing body reviewed this parameter again at multiple events this year.
In just the second half of the calendar, the Federation revised DRS zones at Spa, Monza, Baku, Austin, Mexico, and Las Vegas, adjusting them based on lessons learned in previous years. This process was also applied to this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix, where the DRS zone was further shortened by 100 meters compared to 2023.
In Qatar, there is only one area where the drag reduction system can be used, on the main straight, as the rest of the track lacks sufficiently long sections for DRS usage. This year, the activation point will be 305 meters after the exit of the last corner, whereas last year, it was located 205 meters after the same corner. The detection point, which determines whether the trailing car is within one second of the car ahead, remains unchanged, as does the other DRS zone on the main straight.
In fact, during last year’s event, the DRS zone was already shortened: at the start of the weekend, the activation point was 130 meters after the exit of Turn 16, but after measurements taken during the initial free practice sessions, it was decided to reduce it by 75 meters compared to the original plans.
The decision to further shorten the DRS zone on the main straight will potentially make overtaking even more challenging, although last year overtaking was still plentiful.
Leave a Reply