DRS in GP3 is to help drivers, not to improve show
GP3 boss Bruno Michel insists the main aim of the planned introduction of DRS to the category in 2017 isn't to improve the show, but to help young drivers better prepare for higher single-seater categories.
Photo by: GP3 Series Media Service
The championship debuted a new car - the Dallara GP3/16 - this past season, but the machine's inaugural season got off to a slow start, with little to no overtaking in the first couple of rounds.
However, series boss Michel insists the arrival of the overtake-aiding Drag Reduction System was not triggered by the new car's initial baptism of fire - and says the quality of racing improved markedly in the second half of 2016.
"We're not doing it [to improve the racing]," Michel told Motorsport.com. "We know that it is going to spice up the show, for sure. But the main reason is not that one.
"I must say that the first races of the season were a little bit disappointing… We started it Barcelona and Barcelona is always, you know it, a very difficult race for overtaking.
"You have a few races [like that] and than we started from the summer, Spa, Monza, it started to be [better]. Because those circuits are much better for overtaking as well. So we knew.
"The end of the season was great. So I'm not saying we need to spice up the show."
Michel's other series GP2 has featured DRS since 2015, and he insists the concept's introduction to GP3 is specifically aimed at allowing drivers for a smoother transition between the two championships.
"The idea is that GP3 needs to prepare for GP2 and GP2 needs to prepare for Formula 1," Michel said. "DRS is a quite an important aspect of the Formula 1 car - and now the GP2 car as well.
"We thought about it, lets say, if it was too early [in terms of driver development] to introduce it in GP3. And we decided that it will be something that drivers will be quite happy to have it.
"And we need to attract drivers in our series, for sure. Because it is important. That's the name of the game. And we knew it will be a better-appealing concept to them. We know it is going to help, for sure.
"When we introduced DRS in GP2, we did not need the DRS to spice up the show. We needed DRS to help drivers for the future. We can always debate if GP3 is a little bit early to do it. My view now is that it is the right moment in a driver's progression to introduce it."
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