Fernando Alonso has claimed the São Paulo Grand Prix and his battle
with Sergio Perez showed the benefit of the Drag Reduction System
in Formula 1. DRS has been a controversial tool available to
drivers since 2011 as it allows competitors to gain extra top speed
through certain zones by opening a flap on the rear wing while
travelling within one second of a car ahead. The system has
received criticism throughout the years with some labelling it as
artificial racing. Perez made use of the DRS to pass Alonso into
the first corner late on in the race as he looked to recover to the
podium after starting from ninth on the grid. Alonso managed to
stick with the Red Bull driver and used the DRS to get close to
Perez into Turn 1 on the final lap before using it again into Turn
4 to re-take third place. The Mexican had one final run on the
Aston Martin with DRS as they pushed to the finish line and took
the chequered flag just five-hundredths of a second down on Alonso.
Schumacher fight comparison The defence from Alonso saw a
comparison drawn to his memorable 2005 battle with Michael
Schumacher at Imola. Alonso stated that the DRS in Brazil allowed
him to stay in the fight which wouldn’t have been the case in the
previous eras. “If in 2005 you lose the position, then it’s bye
bye, you cannot recover and here I had another chance,” Alonso told
media including RacingNews365.com . “It has been introduced to
provide a little bit better show and today is a good example of
that because you get overtaken two laps from the end and then you
have another chance, especially here in Brazil. “We saw on Saturday
as well, when there is an overtaking done into Turn 1, there is a
possibility – a strong possibility – that into Turn 4 someone will
get the position back. “So that’s why we see some very nice battles
in races always in Interlagos. It has been a spectacular weekend,
as always here in Brazil. “Sometimes it’s the weather providing
this great show and I think this weekend without any rain or any
weather we saw incredible races. “So there is something in this
track that always give a perfect opportunity for Formula 1 to shine
and it was nice.”
Source: Read More