Kimi Raikkonen says the DRS restriction in 2013 is sensible – Formula 1 news
Lotus F1’s Kimi Raikkonen has stated that the DRS restriction by the FIA during the 2013 F1 season is a sensible change in the rules.
“It’s a sensible change,” said Raikkonen. “It had been going more and more in the direction of everyone trying to take advantage all the time to use DRS earlier and earlier. At some point it was going to cause a big crash. The drivers wanted this change.
Probably it will stabilise the better cars, where for example the Red Bulls were able to drive through some corners with the DRS open, while others could not.”
FIA is introducing two major rules in the 2013 F1 season. One of them is the restriction of the Drag Reduction System (DRS) in the practice and qualifying sessions. Previously the DRS was restricted to the DRS zones only during the day of the actual race
but from 2013, the same rule will be applied in practice sessions and qualifiers. The new rule has been imposed to provide better safety to the drivers on the track as excess use of DRS is expected to be the cause of car collisions.
The FIA had initially introduced the DRS technology to help the drivers overtake their opponents during the race and were not intended for use in practice and qualifying sessions.
FIA’s race director, Charlie Whiting, had admitted that if this rule had an adverse effect then they always have the option for lengthening the DRS zones of the tracks but believes that the teams will still benefit from the DRS just like they have before.
The other rule change is regarding the curfew hours for the team personnel that prevents them from being in the paddock on Thursday nights ahead of the race weekend. Previously, the curfew was for six hours which has now been extended to eight hours. Also,
the teams were allowed to make an exception to this curfew four times a season but that will be reduced to two times in 2013.
F1 teams have also been planning to balance the development of their car in order to adjust with the major engine change during the 2014 F1 season.
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