Another DRS zone added in the upcoming Singapore Grand Prix

The 2024 F1 Singapore Grand Prix will witness a fourth added DRS zone between turns 14 and 16, capitalizing the most from last season's layout change. This will help drivers perform overtakes on the street circuit.

The FIA modified the final sector of the Marina Bay Street Circuit in 2023, cutting off four corners (that went beneath the tunnel), giving the track a longer straight. This season, officials have added another DRS zone in that particular sector.

Following the second DRS straight between turns 13 and 14, the cars can open their rear wing again from 14 to 16, with the turn 15 kink of the Singapore Grand Prix. The track will still feature only three detection zones, meaning the cars with available DRS between T13 and T14 will follow it on the newly added zone.

This will give the drivers another opportunity to overtake on the long straight of the Singapore Grand Prix. Moreover, if they perform an overtake before T14, they could carry an advantage into the new zone, like the Red Bull Ring's T3, home of the Austrian Grand Prix.

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Singapore Grand Prix is now the track with the most DRS Zones, equal to Albert Park

Australian Grand Prix host Albert Park Circuit was modified before the start of the 2022 season. In 2023, a fourth DRS zone was added on the track (which was previously added in 2022 but removed before the race regarding safety concerns).

Now that the Singapore Grand Prix will also feature four DRS zones, it sits alongside the Australian GP as the host with the maximum number of DRS zones in a single track.

The Drag Reduction System (DRS) is one of the most essential systems in an F1 car. Introduced in 2011, it gives the drivers a better opportunity to overtake. If within one second of the one ahead in the detection zone, the driver can activate the DRS on the straight.

The DRS is a flap on the rear wing of the car. The moment a driver turns the DRS on, it opens the flap. The downforce then reduces drastically (because of the open wing) and the top speed increases, helping overtake.

Ferrari SF-23 during pre-season testing in Bahrain, 2023. The DRS on the rear wing is in "open position" (Image from Getty Images)

The new regulations in the 2026 F1 season will not feature a DRS zone. Instead, the cars will then have a Manual Override Mode. They will have active aerodynamics in the front and rear wing, giving them low downforce at any point of the track helping in performing overtakes.