Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, 2018

Third DRS zone added for Mexican Grand Prix

2019 Mexican Grand Prix

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A new DRS zone has been added to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix.

The extra zone has been added at the exit of turn 11 and runs through a slight left-hand kink to turn 12, the sharp right-hander which leads into the Foro Sol stadium. The detection point for the new zone is at the exit of turn nine.

This extra zone is in addition to the two other zones on the main straight and at the exit of turn three, both of which are triggered by the same activation point in the stadium section.

Mexico’s round of the world championship has seen comparatively little overtaking since the revised track held its first race in 2015, according to Mercedes, who claimed the venue has “statistically the third fewest overtakes over the years”. The team recorded a total of 54 passes during the race, 26 of which it attributed to DRS.

Last year’s race was notable for particularly high levels of tyre degradation due to the softness of the tyres which were selected for it. Charles Leclerc was told over 50 times to save his tyres during the 71-lap event.

Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez track map
The new DRS zone begins at turn 11 and runs to turn 12

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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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9 comments on “Third DRS zone added for Mexican Grand Prix”

  1. Were never going to be rid of DRS are we, Especially since 54 overtakes is now deemed too few.

    What will be enough 100, 1000? Why not put DRS on every straight and also give the car that has it an extra 500bhp so that you get guaranteed 1000 passes a race although I bet even that won’t be enough because it will never be enough for those who need constant action.

    1. Didn’t you know? Someone somewhere came up with the idea that racing is about passing and managed to get this lunacy adopted as the mission statement for the future of the racing entertainment production.

      1. Entertainment? Why not make the stadium a DRS section? Oh wait… make the entire track a DRS section. Oh wait… if the entire track was a DRS section, we’d be rid of DRS. Although… every overtake would technically be a DRS overtake.

        Guess it’s a far too advanced concept, even for F1, to just reduce the stupid amount of downforce these post 2017 cars create. That way we could witness more out-of-corner wheel spin and four wheel drifts, which would be more entertaining. Oh wait… Pirelli tyres can’t take any drifting without severe consequences. Never mind. Bring back the fan cars.

    2. @roger-ayles Thankfully Brawn is about more close battles, not passes, and I predict no need for drs in 2021. Passes will be harder fought and therefore much more rewarding for the drivers as well as the fans. Creating a third drs zone for this weekend in Mexico has nothing to do with the much better product that is on the horizon. This is all just temporary bandage stuff while we suffer having cars that were never meant to race closely. Aero addiction is going the way of the dodo.

    3. I always wonder why not just have the drs of the following car close automatically once it gets alongside the the leading car? This instead of shutting
      only when they get on the brakes. This would then create the opportunity to pass and create a battle, rather than the highway/motorway passes…

  2. Chances are we’ll see at least two overtakes for the lead from the start to T1 on lap 1, then not much after that. (unless one of the big 5 1/3 finds themselves out of position.

  3. oh great news.

  4. That straight is too short for DRS to have a genuine impact anyway, so rather pointless addition. Nevertheless, I’d be greatly surprised if Abu Dhabi doesn’t get an additional zone on the S/F straight now that Mexico has got one (which I didn’t see coming at all), and before it, Bahrain and Singapore.

  5. I dislike DRS in general, but I especially hate multiple zones using the same trigger. If I get ahead in zone 1, why am I still getting a benefit in zone 2? If this is really to allow close racing—because to this point everything else has failed—then each zone should have its own trigger. I come at you in zone 1, if I pass you, you should then get to come at me in zone 2 (assuming you are within the trigger time/distance). As it is currently, it seems like a way to get faster cars to the front quicker. And if that is all that they want, they could stop after qualifying.

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