Amidst fears that the new regulations for 2017 could make overtaking more difficult, the FIA's race director, Charlie Whiting, has revealed that DRS zones could be lengthened.

While the new regulations have seen the introduction of wider tyres, which will aid mechanical grip, additional regulations mean that this is somewhat negated by an increased reliance on aero grip.

At a media briefing ahead of this weekend's season opening Australian Grand Prix, Whiting admitted that overtaking currently remains the great unknown.

Furthermore, due to the nature of this weekend's track, the full impact of the new regulations on overtaking might not be known until after China.

"It was a little difficult in testing to fully assess the DRS," he admitted. "We've had some information, of course, and we don't see any significant difference at the moment. That's why we feel that we should assess it over the first two races.

"As it happens here in Melbourne you can't go any longer, it's not long enough for our needs," he admitted, in terms of lengthening the DRS zones. "This is why a couple of years ago we introduced a second activation zone based on one detection point, in other words to try and get the cars closer to car in front on the first bit, and then do something better in the second bit.

"It seems to have worked reasonably well, but we can't actually make it any longer here anyway. We'll assess it after the second race."

Check out our Thursday gallery from Melbourne, here.