APRIL 5, 2018

F1 expects better racing in Bahrain

Drivers are confident this weekend's grand prix in Bahrain will be more exciting than Melbourne.

Drivers are confident this weekend's grand prix in Bahrain will be more exciting than Melbourne.

While Liberty Media works on making the cars easier to overtake for 2021, the FIA installed a third DRS zone in Australia to help for now.

But passing moves were still rare.

"I had a party for the race but towards the end I fell asleep," former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde told Algemeen Dagblad newspaper.

Now, it emerges that the DRS zone on the straight in Bahrain has been extended by 100 metres.

Van der Garde thinks the situation will be better this weekend anyway.

"That's for sure. There are long straights and it's a bit of a 'stop and go' circuit," he said, referring to the Bahrain layout.

And Auto Motor und Sport reports that teams are calculating that the longer DRS zone means that a chasing car will be able to pass if it's 0.8 seconds quicker.

A Mercedes source said: "The longer DRS zone gives the pursuer 3 tenths. If you then use full electric power, more power from the engine and a good slipstream, you have a good chance of overtaking."

(GMM)