Enough tricks. The FIA has decided to move the third important point for activating the DRS to the city track of Jeddah, site of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix scheduled for this weekend, so as to avoid any dangerous tricks.
The last of the three DRS zones was located in the braking zone before the final hairpin, the one that connects two long straights. Sometimes the drivers in that area in the past editions have avoided overtaking the car ahead of them on the straight in order to take advantage of the DRS in the main one, the following one.
This decision has the specific intention of stopping the drivers who avoided overtaking on the first straight, but also those who avoided defending themselves by allowing overtaking on the first straight, almost forcing it with extraordinary braking and then counterattacking on the following one.
We could see the clear example of these situations in the first edition of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the one staged in 2021, with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen fighting for victory in a duel that has become a legend for the way in which it was consumed.
Verstappen had slowed in the middle of the straights to let Hamilton pass him, so that he could take advantage of the second DRS on the following straight and pass his rival again.
Last year we saw something similar again with Max Verstappen, but this time while he was busy battling Charles Leclerc. For this reason, the FIA has decided to move the activation point of the DRS from the braking area of turn 27 to the main straight.
The pre-race notes indicate that the point in question is now 170 meters after the hairpin, so that the drivers are not tempted to brake erratically into the final corner.
Jeddah, as the fastest street track on the 2023 Formula 1 calendar, has been modified with new twists 14 and 20 to ensure better visibility for the drivers, but chamfered curbs have also been added to the high-speed sequence involving the corners 22 and 23. This should lead the pilots to reduce their speed by about 50 km/h.
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