Alonso: F1 usually has few overtakes

At the Baku and Miami stages, the FIA ​​shortened the length of the DRS zones. Not all riders are happy with this decision, as they believe it will reduce the number of overtakes, but Fernando Alonso does not see this as a problem.

“I think so,” Fernando said when asked by journalists in Miami if he supported the reduction of DRS zones. – Last year it was very easy to overtake on this track thanks to DRS. I think that’s why the FIA ​​reduced the zones. Last year it was also very easy to overtake in Baku, so DRS was also lowered there.

I heard Lewis Hamilton called the DRS zones too short, but I believe they were too short for Mercedes due to the fact that they set the car up for a lot of downforce. For Red Bull, the DRS zones in Baku turned out to be too long.

On the start straight, Max Verstappen overtook Charles Leclerc and then braked before the first corner on the usual trajectory. For some cars DRS are long, for others they are short.

I think the FIA ​​calculated everything based on the data from last year’s races. In 2022, the stages in Baku and Miami turned out to be among the easiest in terms of overtaking maneuvers. I think that’s why the DRS zones have been cut off. Let’s see what will happen this year, but now it is difficult to make predictions.

Formula 1 is always characterized by a small number of overtaking maneuvers. For years, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, and before that Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, took first and second. If you have the fastest car and you start a bit behind then overtaking is possible, but if everyone qualifies according to their car’s capabilities then your position is more or less protected.

Usually there isn’t much overtaking after laps 2 and 3, but in Miami on Sunday it might rain, so we’ll see. However, there is no surprise in the small number of overtakes – this is very natural for Formula 1.