As in Monza, a DRS zone will be extended in Baku

How distant and gone it seems the time when we imagined, just a year ago, the end of the DRS in Formula 1. For the second time in a row, this weekend in Baku, the FIA ​​has decided to extend a DRS zone on a circuit, after having already done so at Monza. As a reminder, in Italy two weeks ago, the first DRS zone located on the start-finish line had already been moved forward by 103 metres, leading drivers to deploy their movable rear wing just 12 metres after crossing the line, compared to 115 metres previously.

This had the gift of facilitating overtaking, in a context where maneuvers had become rarer in 2023. This will once again be the case in Baku this weekend, on a track that is far from being devoid of straights! The DRS zone on the longest straight of the Baku City circuit, the start-finish straight, has also been extended by 100 meters. Drivers will now be able to activate their DRS 347 meters after the last turn (the 20th), compared to 447 meters last year. Enough to facilitate overtaking.

Is pole position still worth it?

It will be interesting to see whether this boost will improve the spectacle, or whether it will distort it with overtaking being too easy. If the FIA ​​has been moving in this direction in recent weeks, it is largely because drivers are having difficulty following each other closely, despite the introduction two years ago of new technical regulations that were supposed to allow drivers to follow each other more closely.

This worked well at the start of the current era, but the continued addition of downforce on the cars inevitably contributed to the generation of dirty air in the slipstream. Also of note is a minor change to the second DRS zone, the one that starts at the exit of the second corner. It has been shortened by just two metres. Pole position is usually poison in Baku, ask Charles Leclerc who has not converted any of his three gleaned in Azerbaijan. There is a good chance that it will be even more difficult on Sunday…

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