“Take the DRS off and see how the racing really is”: Sebastian Vettel speaks out against DRS-dependent overtaking in Formula 1
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Sebastian Vettel at the Imola Grand Prix
For four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel, Formula 1 is a competitive sport where the most skilled and fastest driver should win with pure talent, rather than making use of technical advantages like the Drag Reduction System or the DRS. The Aston Martin driver has recently expressed his concerns that F1 will go down the wrong way if overtaking becomes too reliant on enabling the DRS.
In this all-new F1 2022 season, the FIA have issued guidelines to make technical changes to the cars in order to bring the competition closer than it was ever before. This has made it easy for the race cars to follow each other and enjoy reduced slipstream whenever the DRS is enabled. For drivers like Sebastian Vettel, who have been in this sport since 2006, the modern technologies like DRS do not sit well as they feel like it brings down the fun of racing.
And besides the point of DRS being a new technology that spoils the fun of F1, there are concerns that in circuits like that in Saudi Arabia, the long DRS zones guarantee overtaking with the most probability. This makes it difficult for the cars in front to hold back and defend their positions against the cars chasing them.
Sebastian Vettel voices concerns against overtaking in F1 becoming too DRS-dependent
Sebastian Vettel could not take part in the season opener of the 2022 F1 Championship as he was infected with COVID-19, and had to be isolated. During that time, he watched his peers race in the new 2022 cars, and notice them getting too reliant on the DRS technology for overtaking the cars in front of them.
Speaking on the issue of DRS taking away a bit of the true fun in F1 racing, Sebastian Vettel said in a recent interview, “The interesting bit would be to take the DRS off and see how the racing really is, and if you are able to overtake a lot better than, let’s say, in the past.”
Vettel further said, “I’m only a bit cautious for the DRS, because it was brought in as an assistance to help overtaking, but now it feels a bit like it’s the only thing that allows you to overtake at times.”
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Riddhi Mondal
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