The Strange Rules Behind DRS
11,580What exactly was going on between Leclerc and Verstappen at the DRS line during this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix? Is it dangerous? Should it be changed? That’s what I’m going to take a look at from a driver’s perspective.
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So let’s take a look at what’s going on with the DRS zones at Saudi. There are 3 zones, here, here and here. That’s where you can use the DRS… but, the points at which the system decides if you CAN use it - if you’re within one second of the car in front, are here, here and here.
So, let’s take a look at the last DRS zone in particular - because that’s where all the action happened. The detection point is within the braking zone of the final corner. So, if you’re behind, you get DRS… which was pretty powerful at this race. You might ask why they’re positioned like this, but more on that later.
So let's remind ourselves of what happened in the race.
Verstappen first got DRS on lap 42 - triggering at the second detection zone. Down that next straight he shot passed Leclerc… maybe due to a good run and quicker car in a straight line, but I think Leclerc probably eased off a little to let him through. Again, he’d planned this scenario out before the race.
So then Leclerc was behind at DRS activation point 3… the important one. Leclerc then had DRS down the main straight and eased back passed Verstappen - similar to Bahrain.
Next lap, Verstappen again had DRS on the run to the final corner, but this time backed out of it… but so did Leclerc. In the end, they both did some kind of braking test together, however, it was Leclerc who decided to make a break for it and try to gap Verstappen - which he did and even with DRS Verstappen couldn’t get passed.
At this point, I thought Leclerc had outsmarted Verstappen again… it was almost like he was playing with him.
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