Turkish GP to have two DRS zones

Finley Crebolder

It has been confirmed that there will be two zones where drivers can activate DRS in the upcoming Turkish Grand Prix.

Formula 1 will be returning to Istanbul Park for the first time since 2011 after it was selected as a late addition to the Covid-19-disrupted 2020 calendar.

In the last Grand Prix there, there was one DRS zone available for the drivers to use. The activation point was just before Turn 11 and it was used all the way through to Turn 12.

This time around, that zone will be there again, but another one has also been added to the track.

It will be on the start/finish straight, one of the shorter ones on this year’s calendar. The activation point will be located shortly after the final corner, while the detection point is back at Turn 13.

Adding an extra DRS zone makes sense given that, with the cars being wider and more sensitive to dirty air, it is more difficult to overtake now than it was back in 2011.

This was evident at the last race in Imola where the DRS zones were the only areas where drivers could overtake due to the narrow nature of the track. However, Daniel Ricciardo doesn’t expect the same issues to be present at Istanbul Park.

“I think it will provide good racing as overtaking should be more straightforward [than Imola],” he said.

“I think it’s a pretty complete circuit, so I’m certainly looking forward to that… full beans around there is going to be awesome.

“Turn 8 is a great corner, but so is Turn 1, the downhill, unsighted left. It’s really cool!”

As always, DRS will be available to drivers throughout each practice and qualifying session, but only when they’re one second behind another car during the race.

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