Vettel expects passing outside DRS zones in Spain

2013 Spanish Grand Prix

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The Circuit de Catalunya has had a reputation as a circuit where overtaking is difficult but Sebastian Vettel expects it to be easier this year.

As is the case at most circuits this year a second DRS zone has been added at the track. But Vettel believes the difficulty of managing tyre wear will also create more passing.

“For turn nine and ten I think it definitely helps,” said Vettel about the second DRS zone. “I think in the race it will be possible to overtake not only on the straights and not only on the two straights where we have DRS.”

“Especially when we, similar to last races, we struggle with tyres, etc…, I think we will find more than one or two places on the track to pass.”

However he added that when the tyres are at their best DRS alone might not be enough to make turn ten an overtaking opportunity:

“If you have DRS available there it can only help but surely if you look for one lap on fresh tyres it’s not going to be easy because turn nine is quite fast, so it’s difficult to follow as usual.”

The original DRS zone on the start/finish straight remains in the same configuration as last year. The second DRS zone begins at the exit of Campsa (turn nine) with the detection point shortly before the corner.

Has F1 got the balance right as it tries to create more overtaking? Have your say here:

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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15 comments on “Vettel expects passing outside DRS zones in Spain”

  1. I really like it when the DRS zones aren’t immediately after one another; having a section between nthem is a seriously good idea.

  2. Passing outside of DRS zones is so much more exciting than overtakes within the DRS zone it cannot be contemplated in my words.

  3. Off topic: beautiful picture with that strange, rough right edge.

  4. what’s the shaded green area?

  5. there were 11 exciting overtakes in 2010 before we had drs.

    there were 90 mostly boring highway passes in 2011 thanks to drs & 53 boring highway passes in 2012 thanks to the drs.

    i’d much rather see 11 exciting overtakes than 90 boringly unexciting push of a button drs highway passes.

    i still don’t understand what the drs fans find exciting or even interesting about any drs pass?
    there all boring, unexciting & totally unsatisfying to watch occur, Especially from the stands.

    the poll on here last week shows that a big majority feel drs is hurting the races so hopefully the fia will listen & this stupidly artificial gimmick will be banned & never be reintroduced!

    1. Yeah I think the poll was pretty clear-
      2% very positive, 27% positive = 29% total.
      18% Very negative, 42% Negative = 60% total
      10% Neutral, 1% no opinion.

      If anyone from F1 reads this I would say the poll plus the majority of comments on here shows that F1 fans have now turned against the DRS & that its time to either look at how its been used or ban it.

      As it stands there aiming to make it even more effective for 2014, That will be bad for the racing but good for the DRS opponents as it will likely only see more people start to become Anti-DRS.

      1. there were 11 exciting overtakes in 2010 before we had drs.

        None of them were relevant though. I don’t recall any passing happening within the top 8. Most overtakes were done at the back.

        Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have good racing without DRS, but Spain 2010 is one of the worst examples of this IMO.

        1. Were seeing things in one side, but why not make a few changes on the tracks ? Obviously Monaco is one of the crown jewels and so there makes sense to have, but why not try and change or at least adapt newcoming tracks to the cars so can be more overtakes?

          Other thing we can look at, it’s a new era in F1, no one can be accepted, for know, the dominant car in F1, and there are leveled teams with similar cars, but unless the tyres and DRS makes the difference, i’m not seeing a lot of overtakes up in front. I think we should look at F1 and see the big picture.

          For me i want to ban or change the DRS, the car that is overtaken looks like he’s stopped or reversing. And i woud change the tyres rules too, at least put one more manufacturer and give the teams to try them in the car building process. Call me old fashion but for me F1 represents all that.

        2. To be honest, the only track which would need any change would be Abu Dhabi; just cut out the first chicane and straight line it to the hairpin. That part is already built so won’t cost anything.

  6. Into T4 and perhaps T14 are the other places I can think of.

    Anyway, the whole ‘you can’t pass in Barcelona’ thing got outddated a bit in the past two years, incidentally (or not) since the introduction of DRS. In 2011, Barcelona saw an above-average number of passes, and in 2012, it saw an average number of them. So no huge slumps in this regard anymore, no processional races, etc. I hope this trend continues, I like Vettel’s comment and appreciate if one spots interesting facts – such as the above – behind the usual panels.

    My source was ClipTheApex, but I was lazy to cite the exact numbers. It’s getting late.

    1. Someone beat me by a minute with the figures.

    2. Into T4 and perhaps T14 are the other places I can think of.

      I can’t see how anyone is going to pass in T14, it’s too tight and has a short braking zone. Overtaking into T5 is possible as Kobayashi showed last year against Button.

  7. How about a compromise seems logical to me. Only have DRS on the almost impossible to pass curcuits, Hungry, Monaco, Barcelona. Singapore ?

    The whole concept of the drs is to allow passing where previously it was either very very hard or impossible.

  8. BJ (@beejis60)
    10th May 2013, 3:31

    nice to not see the DRS zones in back to back areas.

  9. “Vettel expects passing outside DRS”, doesn’t he realize that no-one will pass him

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