Whiting expects more overtaking

FIA race director Charlie Whiting says that he expects there to be more overtaking at the Yas Marina Circuit thanks to the DRS.

The 2010 championship-deciding race was criticised for a lack of overtaking with Fernando Alonso being stuck behind Vitaly Petrov's Renault for the majority of the race despite having a faster car, scuppering his chances of winning the title. Petrov himself said this week that thanks to the track layout it was not a hard task: "It must have been very hard for him being stuck behind me for so long, but honestly it was not that difficult for me to keep him behind me. That sounds quite blasé I know!"

While the race organisers were initially going to make tweaks to the track, those plans have been put on hold due to the success of the DRS and Pirelli tyres in facilitating overtaking this season, and Whiting said he thought that would prove to be a big improvement.

"The race came in for a bit of criticism last year because the cars found it very difficult to overtake," Whiting said. "But there are two DRS zones this year, with two activation points, and they should make a significant difference in that respect.

"Everybody loves coming here to race: the facilities are absolutely first class - everything's top-notch and the timing of the event gives a nice mix between a night race and a day race. The marshalling has been excellent, too, and race control works very well. It's a thoroughly pleasant working experience. There haven't been any changes to the circuit apart from some very minor kerbing adjustments."

ESPNF1