Two independent DRS zones at Sochi

2014 Russian Grand Prix

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The Sochi Autodrom will have two DRS zones for the inaugural Russian Grand Prix.

The two zones will be on opposite sides of the 5.8 kilometre track and have their own detection points.

The first DRS zone will be on the run to the first braking zone, and the other will be on the next-longest flat-out stretch which curves right and left as it leads into turn 13.

That corner is expected to be one of the hardest braking points on the circuit. “Braking down into turn 13 will be very severe,” said Lotus technical director Nick Chester. “You come out of the kink before you brake so it will be a difficult corner to get right.”

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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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    31 comments on “Two independent DRS zones at Sochi”

    1. Blimey, that run from the start down to turn two will require a lot of defending from whoever is on pole… Anyone know how long it actually is?

      1. 650 meters according to F1 official website

      2. Poor Renault powered teams… I mean poor Ricciardo, the others will be at the back anyways, he will lose some places at the start. Maybe that’s why Vettel’s PU change was scheduled for this race.

      3. It’s the main straight that’s 650m in total as I understand. Based on my measurements on Google Earth, from the actual startline to the actual first braking event (i. e. T2) it’s a whooping – wait for it – 1015m.

        Now that’s comfortably the longest such distance of the season and one which – with the flat-out kink of T1 – will remind me of that particular F3 race’s start which happens to be around the same time: Macau.

    2. No surprises there, this track was effectively designed to have two DRS-zones.

      Incidentally, boooooooooring.

    3. I think I have just worked out how tike designes his trackes.

      He basically looks around his desk and draws an outline around the nearest object, then goes from there.

      Sochi – http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41iHjeenMFL._SX300_.jpg

      Azerbijan – Looks like he had a spare key lying about.

      Next Week: a wisk shaped track

      1. And before designing Yeongam he spend a holiday at croatia and bought a sticker for his car.

      2. LoL – yes and maybe some guns for other tracks

    4. Looks like zone 2 is on a bend, and could cause crashes

      1. It should be fine, but hey, if not… they’ll be earning their money won’t they :)

    5. I don’t mean to sound insensitive, and surely Marussia too, but they need a replacement for Bianchi. They already have two reserve drivers, will it be Rossi or Stevens? Or neither, seing as they haven’t announced it yet?

      1. Apparently they’re preparing both cars for the weekend (https://twitter.com/willbuxton/status/519772160689057792). @fixy

        I assume it’ll be Rossi. He’s got more testing and practice experience, and he was supposed to race in Spa in Chilton’s place, until that got resolved.
        Then again, when Kubica got injured, Renault didn’t use a reserve but brought Heidfeld in. I wonder if Marussia, with Bianchi unlikely to race in the rest of the season, will go for someone else with more experience.

        Still, it’s got to be Rossi I reckon.

        1. To add: what a terrible way to have your dream come true.

        2. @enigma @timothykatz I’ve seen multiple Spanish sources on Twitter claiming they’ll run a single car. And while it’d be a nice mark of respect if done on purpose, it’d be a missed opportunity of gaining some cash. A double pay-driver line-up wouldn’t draw criticism in such a situation, and, again I don’t mean to sound insensitive, would be a good way to find a small positive (financial stability) in such a negative moment. And that would also mean more drivers like Bianchi (i.e. non-paying, promising drivers), if not Bianchi himself, could have a higher chance of driving for them without thinking too much about sponsors.
          Rossi was set to race but Stevens hadn’t joined them yet. I’d prefer to see Rossi finally have a chance, but if they had plans to give a seat to Stevens next year they’ll probably put the Briton in the car instead.

          1. @fixy @timothykatz Yeah, seems like running two cars might be too important for such a small and struggling team. I suppose a big team would only race one car in such a situation.

            Either way, we’ll find out soon enough as practice isn’t far away. It’s tough just talking about this, imagine what a difficult situation Marussia must be in, deciding on things that seem so irrelevant in comparison…

            1. By Marussia I obviously mean John and Graeme. Must be horrible for them.

          2. I’m guessing that they will run just the 1 car as they have Jules Bianchi’s name over the garage.

          3. @fixy bianchi is technically a pay-driver. ferrari are funding his seat through technical know-how, parts, and probably some cash too.

            1. @frood19 You’re right but as we said many times even Alonso brings Santander sponsorship with him. Just Chilton would likely be out of the team if the cash stopped flowing (Spa?) while Bianchi, provided they have the money to race, would keep his seat.

        3. Looks like they’ve entered car 42 for Rossi – formula1.com – but that was the plan at Spa as well… He’s also been spotted dong a track walk.

      2. I think that’s been going through lots of peoples’ minds, but may have thought it inappropriate to write it. Maybe for the next race there will be a replacement, but it shouldn’t be announced yet. Bit too insensitive, I think.

        1. I wish I could cancel my post! I’m amazed that Marussia are preparing a second car for Sochi.

      3. Isn’t the Bianchi car taken by the Japanese police? I thought it was. If so, it will be another chassis. Maybe that’s a bit easier on the potential replacement driver.

    6. ColdFly F1 (@)
      8th October 2014, 22:09

      second DRS zone runs through 2 corners (11 & 12)!
      It seems that they tried to number every bent as a corner.

    7. Seems odd to have the detection and activation close together on the same straight (Zone 1). Seems it should be before the previous corner. If you are 1s behind well into the accelleration area, with such a long straight ahead, you should not need DRS.

      1. good point.

    8. I don’t like this track.

      1. noted, and passed onto the FIA.

    9. I think NR and LHwill crash that looks dangerous. How can you have such a long straight like that on the start.

      1. Unusual comment Dan… Given that these guys are suppose to be the best in the world, I wouldn’t have thought a corner after a straight would have caused too much grief…. They managed fine in Monza a couple of races back. Even at Suzuka, Malaysia and Barcelona all have big runs to the first corner.

    10. Sector 1 and 2 looks good. No low-speed corners and some fairly quick ones in these two. I recall drivers claiming it might not look impressive on paper, but it’s actually quite good to drive.

      Sector 3 is obviously a whole different ball game.

      Note that this is the first drawing on which we can see the actual sector markings – there are approximate ones in the upcoming F1 2014, but they weren’t real. That said they are only minimally different from those in-game.

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