29/06/2018
NEWS STORY
For the third time this season a track will feature a third DRS zone as the sport attempts to spice up the action.
Drivers and fans have never really taken to the artificial means of overtaking, and as the Red Bull Ring joins Melbourne and Montreal in adding a third zone, a number of drivers, most notably, Sebastian Vettel, have expressed their unease.
"I don't know if it is a solution," said the German. "Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of people that maybe like the idea of Mario Kart, including myself, I played it when I was young, but then again I think it shouldn't get artificial.
"Maybe it helps with overtaking and so on," he continued, "but if you end up driving past another car it isn't very exciting either.
"There is more tension and more excitement if the car is behind and maybe something will happen rather than just sailing past," he added.
His scepticism is shared by teammate Kimi Raikkonen.
"Half of the track is DRS, so it should make it pretty easy," said the Finn. "I don't know if it's too easy or not. Obviously we want overtaking but there must be a point where it's kind of artificial overtaking. But let's see."
Romain Grosjean was not entirely sure if Vettel's comparison to Mario Kart was correct.
"When I saw it first of all, I was a bit sceptical because I think it's a lot of DRS zones, basically on every straight," said the Haas driver. "So we just need to see how it goes into racing and if it's not like Mario Kart where I pass, then you pass, then I pass back."
"I think ultimately they're doing it to try and make racing more exciting because it's not exciting enough, and the fundamentals are too big to change within the season," added Lewis Hamilton.
"We're trying to make the best with what we have. I think the way they've got it set up, you can get DRS in one zone, you can overtake, and then the other guy can get DRS in the next part. So it could be good... it's not particularly the easiest of tracks to follow on, so it will be interesting."
Check out our Friday gallery from Spielberg, here.