There will be two DRS zones during the upcoming Canadian and European Grands Prix, FIA Technical Delegate Charlie Whiting has confirmed. For the race at Montreal, drivers will be allowed to use the device on the back straight after Turn 10 and once again along the pit-straight, while in Valencia the zones will be placed between Turns 10-12 and Turns 14-17.
"The DRS zone will be on the last straight and the pits straight," said Whiting when asked by Autosport to confirm where the two zones will be in Canada. "There will be one detection zone. The initial detection will be after Turn 10, then they can have another go (on the main straight)."
Whiting also explained why the FIA chose not to introduce two zones in Turkey, as well as the reason for sticking to that plan for this weekend's race in Barcelona.
"We only had the software available to us in Turkey," Whiting added. "I thought it was too new (to use it there) so I wanted to make sure there were no bugs in it.
"We don't think there's anywhere suitable here (in Barcelona) because they have to be consecutive straights. It becomes more complicated the further apart they are because there's more likelihood of a change in position of the drivers. So the first realistic opportunity we felt was Montreal. In Valencia, currently, it will be between Turns 10 and 12 and between 14 and 17."
Bernie Ecclestone and his men have sometimes been charged of running a multi-million dollar practice of burning fuel and rubber.
However, the FIA has finally struck an agreement with the Formula One stakeholders for an overall greener approach towards racing.
They have jointly consented for the introduction of a drastically new environment friendly engine program effective from the 2013 Formula One season.
The changes are being implemented in an attempt to replicate the growing belief of being fuel efficient. Due to rising oil prices, there has been a general change in attitude towards driving gas guzzlers and opting for a mileage-first approach towards road driving.
The sport has seen 2.4 litre V8’s powering the cars on track for some time now. However, the engines for 2013 shall be 1.6 litres in capacity. However, to make up for the loss of power, turbo chargers will be introduced along with energy recovery system and fuel restrictors.
It has been reported that while the greener cars will be able to retain the same 750 brake horse power, they would arguably be twice as efficient on fuel as the 24 cars that were seen going round the Abu Dhabi circuit this season.
The CEO of the six decade old sport, Bernie Ecclestone, on the other hand, was a touch sceptical over the new approach. He said:
“We have a very good engine formula. Why should we change it to something that is going to cost millions of pounds and that nobody wants and that could end up with one manufacturer getting a big advantage?"
Ecclestone’s might have a point there. Playing the green card might enable the sport to make a couple of environmentalist friends however, initial cost of the change is too high.
Spending so heavily for ‘fixing the unbroken’ seems to be a pointless venture. He further pointed out that the new technology opens a whole new window of opportunities for the elite constructors of Formula One. Not only does it enable them to drive out competition from mid-table teams but also provides them room for exploiting the rulebook – The F-duct system anyone?!
Formula One just experienced, arguably, its most competitive season and perhaps it would be a wise option to continue with the current settings. However, those that call this period of ‘consolidation’ as monotonous would beg to differ with Mr. Bernie Ecclestone.
As a faithful viewer of the sport however, we'll just have to wait...