Charles Leclerc believes that this year's Formula One races would be very boring if the race cars did not have a DRS system, and teammate Sainz suggests reducing his influence, as overtaking with him would be too easy.
The leader in scoring the 2022 World Cup in Saudi Arabia, after a few rounds of duel with Max Verstappn, which also included a lot of tactics using the DRS system, had to concede defeat and settle for second place.
A week ago in Bahrain, at the opening race of the season, we saw a similar showdown between the two actors, where, also due to smart tactics in the use of DRS, Monaco was more successful.
In one of the last laps of the race, Leclerc and Verstappen braked hard in front of the DRS detection point, which allows a racer driving within one second of the second to use the DRS system. It was this game that turned out to be decisive in the end.
Formula One is competing this year with a new generation of racing cars, which many hoped would be a stopover before the DRS system's reputation, but Leclerc believes that without a movable rear wing that reduces air resistance on planes and allows higher speeds, you wouldn't see a lot going on.
"DRS has to stay on the races for now, otherwise the races would be quite boring," said the Ferrari racer. “It is easier to follow the second race car this year, which is a good step forward, but it is still not enough to say goodbye to the DRS. In part, I even like it, as it has become part of the tactics designed by every racer when it comes to defense and attack. The DRS is now part of the race. ”
Verstappen, the winner of the Saudi race, is convinced that without DRS Leclerc could not have overtaken. “Without DRS, I would never have come by,” he said after the race. “I think we are still too sensitive in this area. Of course, it is different on some tracks and it is easier to overtake than on others, but for now it seems to me that without DRS I would be in second place today. ”
The Dutchman revealed that tires also play an important role in following other racers, which sometimes makes it impossible to prepare for overtaking. “This year's race cars allow you to drive closer to other race cars, but it depends more on the tires. The harder version allows you to drive closer than other tracks, as they simply start to fall apart after a few laps of driving behind another race car. ”
This year's racing cars are even heavier than in previous seasons and reach almost 800 kg in weight, which, according to the current world champion, also causes additional tire loads. "The weight of racing cars is overloaded, so something will have to be done about it in the future," he said.
Carlos Sainz, who was third in the race in Jeddah, agrees that it is difficult to overtake without DRS, but believes that its effect may need to be reduced slightly. “Today, it is impossible to overtake without DRS. Without those three or four tenths of a second brought by the DRS on each plane, it would be impossible to overtake another race car. But perhaps we should reduce its effect a bit to give a slightly smaller advantage in use. Some overtaking is a little too easy these days. ”
Photos: HB Press
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