In recent years, the FIA has continued to review the length of DRS zones, in an attempt to find the right balance. Often, the governing body has reduced the size of the areas in which the mobile wing can be used, mainly because it has realised that, on some tracks, overtaking was far too easy, making the show on the track artificial.
A thought that also applies to Spa, where the Belgian Grand Prix will be held this weekend, the last event before the summer break. Over the years, especially in the preparatory categories, the effect of DRS has become particularly effective, making overtaking easier than the FIA would like.
For this reason, for this season’s event, the governing body has decided to review the area in which it is possible to activate the mobile wing on the Kemmel straight, reducing it by 75 meters. While the detection point, i.e. the point where it is established whether the following car is less than a second behind the preceding one, remains unchanged, always set 240 meters before Eau Rouge, on the contrary the activation line has been postponed by 75 meters.
The detection point is located before Eau Rouge
Until last year, in fact, the activation point was 230 meters after turn 4, while for this season it has been postponed to 305 meters after the Raidillon climb. Although 75 meters may seem short given the length of the Kemmel straight, the basic objective is to not give drivers an easy opportunity to overtake.
This choice, however, will also have a second consequence: if in the race it will mainly influence attacking maneuvers, in qualifying the teams that will benefit will be those that have a more efficient DRS, even though at Spa they often tend to use wings that are already quite low on power.
Spa also has a second DRS zone, the one on the start-finish straight, which is much shorter than the one on the Kemmel straight and is often used more as an opportunity to get closer and subsequently prepare for an overtaking move than as a real chance to attempt an attacking manoeuvre when braking for Turn 1. In fact, as there is a second detection point between Turn 1 and Eau Rouge, the risk is that of being overtaken again using the mobile wing on the Kemmel.
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