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Max Verstappen claimed that he wouldn't have been able to beat Charles Leclerc in Jeddah if not for the Drag Reduction System. The Dutchman won his first race of the year in 2022 by overtaking Leclerc in the closing stages of the race.
Ferrari and Red Bull have been the two most dominant teams by a long mile this season. With Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen battling hard, it is fair to assume that this year is going to be an all-out war between the two giants.
On this particular occasion, Verstappen pipped Leclerc after losing out in Bahrain last weekend. However, the Dutchman claimed he was able to overtake the Monegasque due to the help of DRS in addition to the RB18's straight-line speed.
He told the media after the race:
"If I didn't have DRS today, I wouldn't have been first. I think we are still too sensitive for that. And of course, some tracks are easier to pass than others but for me at the moment if DRS hadn't been there, I would have been second today."
Carlos Sainz agrees with Max Verstappen, praises DRS
Verstappen's former Torro Rosso teammate and current Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz agrees with the Dutchman. He too believes the DRS is needed in today's F1, helping drivers overtake despite being able to follow each other more closely than ever. However, the Spaniard believes the effectiveness of DRS must be relooked at, claiming that, at times, it gives the driver behind 'too big' an advantage heading into a corner.
Sainz agreed with Max Verstappen's statement, saying:
"Yeah, I think without DRS passing would be reduced significantly. So I think we still are better off with DRS but we might need to consider maybe the speed delta that there is with DRS - might be a bit too much, which gives the car behind too much of a speed delta and sometimes the overtake is done before the braking."
He added:
"And you'd much rather have the two cars battling under braking rather passing like on a highway. Maybe we need to have a look at this but we definitely need DRS nowadays."
While it is yet to be determined if the FIA will look at removing DRS from the sport altogether, fans can hope for more epic battles between the likes of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc in the coming months.
Also Check Out: F1 2022 Results
