John N
Formula 1 has tweaked the configuration of the DRS zone at Imola for the third year running. The high-speed circuit offers few locations where a DRS zone of significant length could be incorporated safely. It is, therefore, one of a handful of venues on the calendar that has just one DRS zone. The zone runs from the start/finish line towards the braking zone for Tamburello, which is officially known as turn two. As was the case last year, the activation point will be 60 meters before turn 19, the final corner on the track.
However, the detection point for the corner has been moved to halfway between Rivazza 1 and the Variante Alta chicane. The original detection point was 20 meters before Rivazza 1 (turn 17). The new detection point is 385 meters before the corner, between Variante Alta and Rivazza 1. F1’s DRS zone was extended following F1’s return to the track in 2020. The activation point was initially situated at the finishing line after turn 19. The detection point was first positioned 40 meters after turn 18. Last year’s race winner Max Verstappen said F1 should add a second DRS zone on the run from Variante Alta to Rivazza 1. He thinks it would help drivers catch up to other competitors on the final two corners of a lap. Verstappen said: “You lose so much time in the last two corners that even when you put the DRS a bit earlier, you will not arrive in time for turn one.”
