Hockenheimring gets two DRS zones for first time

2014 German Grand Prix

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Two DRS zones will be used at the Hockenheimring for the first time this weekend.

As the circuit shares the German Grand Prix with the Nurburgring and hosts it on alternate years, this is only the second time F1 has raced at the track using DRS.

The previous DRS zone on the approach to turn six, the Spitzkehre, is unchanged, with its detection point at the exit of turn four.

A new DRS zone has been added on the preceding straight heading towards turn two. The detection point is on the approach to turn one, with the activation zone shortly after it.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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30 comments on “Hockenheimring gets two DRS zones for first time”

  1. I hope DRS isn’t too powerful here, this is a good track for passing anyway… actually I just dislike DRS now. I used to be open minded but now I’m tired of it making some passes way too easy!

    1. Me too, but these new cars are harder to drive and I think DRS isn’t necessary anymore.

      1. Yes it is. Vettel vs Alonso, for example, never would have happened without DRS.

        1. Mr win or lose
          20th July 2014, 8:37

          Really? Possibly Alonso got ahead of Vettel thanks to DRS, but it was a miracle that it took Vettel more than ten laps to retake that position despite the two DRS zones.

  2. That first DRS zone…. it’s just so pointless. It’s just a DRS zone for the sake of having a second DRS zone. It could potentially be very dangerous too, because the DRS activation point is where traditionally we see a lot of drivers running wide. And especially with Raikkonen’s accident from two weeks ago in the back of our minds, I’m not sure this is such a good idea.

    1. I quite like the first DRS zone. Last year DRS barely did anything at this track. Hopefully the first zone will allow the following driver to close-up to the lead driver, and then they can properly duke it out at the end of the second DRS zone @andae23

      1. @timi Actually, it’s debatable whether or not it the first DRS zone might be beneficial to the chasing car or not. Turn 1 is a fast right hand corner with a dangerous exit due to DRS, especially with an unstable rear end. And the straight is so short, drivers barely even get a tow unless their less than a car’s length behind. And also with DRS, drivers might get too close to the car behind, causing them to back off for the braking point of Turn 2, with them now being further back than prior to the first DRS zone.

      2. @timi was DRS ineffective last time? i thought it was over effective. maybe im wrong

      3. @timi The reason I think it’s pointless is because it’s so short. I just don’t see how a driver could benefit from it.

        1. @andae23 It’s short, but every little helps – it should allow the following car to close up more than they otherwise would, even if only by 10m.

      4. Last year DRS barely did anything at this track.

        @timi Maybe because F1 didn’t run at this track last year ;)

        1. Haha that might explain it! I guess we we’re thinking about the ’12 race @sato113. I’ll look out for some replays or highlights but I think DRS was a bit ineffective. There is, as usual, a chance I’m wrong lol

    2. @andae23 Yes, especially as that is where the track narrows a lot, and there is the pit exit right there too.

  3. The Blade Runner (@)
    17th July 2014, 10:08

    Looks like it’s going to be hot for qualy and then wet on Sunday. Hopefully should make for a great race.

  4. Juan Pablo Montoya said that DRS is like giving Photoshop to Picasso and at first, I just thought he was jealous of not having that luxury. Now, with these new generation cars that the drivers find challenging, DRS isn’t neccessary. Even though the DRS now opens a lot wider which makes a ‘letterbox’ opening, it is ruining the challenge of defence. For example, a Mercedes, with one of the best top speeds in the field, uses its DRS to overtake a Red Bull, a car with one of the lowest top speeds in the field. In this case, the Red Bull is a GP3 car and the Mercedes is an F1 car without DRS. So, in all reality, is DRS really worty it?

    1. Juan Pablo Montoya said that DRS is like giving Photoshop to Picasso and at first, I just thought he was jealous of not having that luxury.

      Don’tr think he’d be jealous of F1 having DRS now given how Montoya never needed such gimmicks, He brought great overtaking to F1 at a time when everyone else was saying overtaking was impossible.

      I remember him saying a few years ago that he felt a part of the problem with overtaking wasn’t just the cars but also the mindset of the drivers. He said that by coming from categories where overtaking was possible he came into F1 still believing it was possible to overtake so always had a go while those who had been in F1 a bit longer tended to have less go’s & instead just waited for the pit stops.

      I also saw Eddie Irvine talk about DRS & he made the point that when Hamilton came into F1 he started pulling off some great overtaking moves & that when you saw him pull these moves you knew he was an amazing racer.
      Instead of everyone else having to raise there game & work harder to become better racers to overtake DRS instead lowers the bar so that you no longer need to be a great racer to overtake because all you need do is get within 1 second in the ‘passing zone’.

      Going back to DRS’ introduction in 2011, I was quite open to it initially & wanted to see how it worked before forming an opinion. After that 1st year I didn’t like how it worked but hoped that it would improve for 2012, Instead I felt it got worse a trend that repeated in 2013 so right now I’m very firmly on the against DRS side of the fence. I’ve just seen it produce too many easy passes & kill too many exciting racing battles with utterly boring highway passes.

      Overtaking should be exciting, It should be hard fought & it should be earned. Anytime a push of a button pass is so easy that its totally unexciting to watch then I just don’t think thats right, Its not exciting, Its not hard fought for & its just not good racing.

      DRS is nothing quantity over quality & I just don’t see that as a good thing.

      1. DRS is nothing quantity over quality & I just don’t see that as a good thing.

        Agreed. The FIA need to realize that cars switching positions on track due to DRS is not actually overtaking.

  5. I agree with the zone between turns 1 and 2, but the zone between turns 2 and 3 is completely unnecessary. DRS is there to make overtaking opportunities possible where they previously weren’t, but the run into turn 3 always provides overtaking opportunities. Having a DRS zone there will make overtakes into turn 3 far too easy.

    1. Especially as its such a long straight. Worse still, it isn’t actually straight, so if a driver suddenly pulls out to make the pass then they could go spinning off.

  6. They’ve done it wrong, yet again. There should be DRS activation between Turns 17 & 1, and again between Turns 1 & 2, with 1 activation point.

    This thing of putting DRS on the longest straight is completely stupid.

    1. I should say that I am opposed to DRS now, having wanted to give it a chance to see how it worked out. These motorway passes don’t do it for me though, but if it is to remain as a rule, don’t put it on the most obvious overtaking point on the race track.

    2. Do you really think that DRS would be good for S/F straight? I think the reason they (FIA) didn´t put it there was safety, because turn 1 is almost flatout and DRS+Fast Corners together never good!

      1. Also consider that the track narrows into turn 1 & that the apex is actually very tight with only 1 good line through the entry & that the corner is also actually fairly fast.

        Regardless of what you do to the cars, How powerful you make DRS on the start/finish straght or whatever, Your never going to get overtaking into turn 1 because the corner & the way the track is heading into it just won’t allow it.

  7. Michael Brown (@)
    17th July 2014, 12:04

    Is DRS even needed for the sport? 2010 was a much better season than the ones before it because of the refuelling ban. Sure, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi were horrible races but that was because the tracks were so poorly designed.

    1. Mr win or lose
      20th July 2014, 9:35

      I think everyone was awed early 2011 about the extreme amount of on-track action, something that had been missing in the years before, especially in 2010, when it was virtually impossible to gain positions in races that were dominated by the mandatory tyre change. However, the increased on-track action in 2011 was mostly a result of the rapidly wearing Pirelli tyres; I believe 50% of the overtaking took place outside the DRS zones. Probably a lot of the overtakes in DRS zones would have taken place anyway, so (at most tracks) DRS only reduces the length of a battle. However, I would keep it at tracks with very limited overtaking opportunities.

  8. Surely turn seven isn’t severe enough for drivers to be spinning off from it with DRS. Couldn’t they have DRS out of 6 into 8?

    1. @slr No, sadly turn 7 is far too sharp at that sort of speed. It can be taken flat out but all the downforce is needed.

      1. I imagine in previous years it may have been okay to simply drive with DRS around turn 7, but not race. But I think you’re right, it certainly can’t be done with these cars now that I think about it.

        1. I suspect that Turn 7 will still be just about flat.
          I doubt they could run through it with DRS open with these cars though like I think they could in 2012.

          I think turns 4 & 12 are going to be fun with these cars though.
          T4 because of the torque of the power units while accelerating out of the slow T3.
          T12 because its a pretty quick corner that was tricky enough at times when they had a lot more downforce. With the downforce reduction we could see cars moving around through it like we did on the old layout when they had next to no downforce on the cars.

  9. I’m actually expecting plenty of crashes in Turn 4 especially during Friday and Saturday. Remember how in 2010, Hamilton crashed on the exit of Turn 4 in the car with the 2nd most downforce…EVER!

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