• European Grand Prix

Single DRS zone for Valencia

Overtaking was still difficult in Valencia last year despite two DRS zones © Sutton Images

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• European Grand Prix

The FIA has announced that there will be just one DRS zone for this year's European Grand Prix.

In 2011 there were two zones - the first between turns 10 and 12 and the second between turns 14 and 17. However, after opting to drop one zone in Canada for the last grand prix, the FIA has done the same in Valencia. The only DRS zone available in the race will now be between turns 10 and 12, despite Pirelli's Paul Hembery admitting that he expects overtaking to be difficult this weekend.

"Valencia could not present a bigger contrast to the street circuits that have come before it: the track is faster and the temperatures higher, with plenty of energy going through the tyres," Hembery said. "What it has in common with the others is the difficulty of overtaking, which will put the emphasis on qualifying. So we are expecting a fairly straightforward race, with either two or three stops depending on which tactics the teams use - although one team tried a one-stopper last year as well.

"The weather should be consistently warm throughout the weekend, which should lead to fewer variables in terms of temperature, so there probably won't be many big surprises to emerge. We've used the combination of soft and medium tyres more than any other line-up so far this year, as it has shown itself to be a perfect compromise between performance and durability, allowing drivers to show their speed when they need to but also benefit from longer stints in the race."

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