Sebastian Vettel has queried whether the decision to add a third DRS zone at Silverstone which also incorporates the first two corners could widen the gap between the top three and the rest.
The zone is seen as the first of its kind to incorporate a stretch of track that may not be easily flat-out for a Formula 1 car and in first practice on Friday, we have already seen the drivers test the limit as to just how possible it was.
For Max Verstappen and Red Bull, it appeared comfortable in the early stages, but a later crash for Romain Grosjean highlights the Ferrari driver’s point that potentially only the top three teams could cope.
“It’s a bit tricky, I don’t know if we can do it with DRS open or not,” he said on Thursday. “We have to try, with the [new] asphalt, [grippier] tyres and so on.
“If anybody is likely to do it then it’s us, as in the big teams with most of the downforce. So, I don’t know if that was the intention to split the grid even more.
“I’m sure other people have less downforce than us, so they will probably struggle more.”
A scenario that most were opting for in the first session was to manually close the rear wing flap just before the corner, stay flat, and then open again on the exit. Should the driver lift or brake in that time though, the second use of DRS would not be permitted.
