The FIA has all but confirmed that this year's Dutch Grand Prix will see cars being able to use DRS on the banked Turn 14 leading onto the main straight. It was revealed earlier this week that the FIA would trial the use of DRS through the final banked curve at Zandvoort during FP1 for the Dutch Grand Prix. But with the FIA now having released the official map of the Zandvoort circuit with the DRS activation point just before Turn 14 – also known as the Arie Luyendyk Bocht – it appears as if the FIA are set to keep this arrangement for the duration of the weekend.
Safety concerns hindered DRS use in 2021
In 2021, then-Race Director Michael Masi deemed the use of the overtaking aid as unsafe through Turn 14 due to the banking, with last year's DRS detection zone coming several hundred metres later on the start-finish straight. According to the FIA's single-seater Technical Director, Nikolas Tombazis, moving the DRS back before Turn 14 will foster closer racing, as Turn 1 is the prime overtaking spot at Zandvoort. "The current position is that we are going to have the DRS ahead of the final corner, so early on, to improve the racing in Zandvoort a bit," he explained to Viaplay . "But we are keeping an open mind and we will be asking teams for their feedback. We have asked them already, in simulations, but also after FP1 we will asking teams for their feedback. "If we feel that there is any, even a remote risk for any safety, then clearly we would have to take action and change it after FP1."
Most read
