Away from the drama that ensued at Silverstone due to the plethora of tyre failures the teams had a number of upgrades available for the race.

After much anticipation throughout 2012, Lotus finally ran its DRD (Drag Reduction Device) in anger, with Raikkonen using it in qualifying and the race at Silverstone. The passive device has been tested by Lotus since Germany last season, with Mercedes, Sauber and Red Bull having invested time and money investigating its merits since then also. The Lotus variant has the inlets bonded to the airbox and so when these were shown on the launch version of the E21 it was plain to see the team intended to continue its evaluation.

The problem with DRD is it requires preparation time at each GP to tune it to the requirements of the circuit. As the switching process is passive (ie requires no interaction from the driver) the system must be tuned to switch at a specific speed.

The system works by taking airflow in through the outlets either side of the airbox, this flows through the pipework in the engine cover and exits out of the outlet through the specifically shaped ‘monkey seat’. As the speed of the car increases it becomes unsustainable for the airflow to extract through this outlet and begins to climb up the periscope. The periscope, now placed under the rear wing’s mainplane blows this airflow onto it, disturbing the natural airflow regime and sending the wing into a stall, reducing downforce and in turn drag.