Once again, Formula 3 delivered a cracking sprint race, with reigning FRECA runner-up Martinius Stenshorne taking his maiden victory in a race full of overtakes thanks to the extensive use of the DRS. Feeder Series spoke with the three podium finishers of Saturday’s race about the effects of the Drag Reduction System and whether or not it should be tweaked in the future.

By Daniele Spadi

Since the series’ rebrand in 2019, DRS has been present in every season. With the many fights the championship has seen throughout its three races in 2024, the system designed to help drivers overtake has been one of the key points of discussions, with drivers referring to it as “very powerful” and hard to counter. 

The sprint race around the Melbourne street circuit definitely fuelled the conversation. With four DRS zones over the 5.2-kilometre track, drivers often traded positions throughout the lap and failed to maintain the spot they had just gained a couple of corners earlier.

A prime example of this was the fight for the race lead in the opening stages, when Martinius Stenshorne and pole sitter Laurens van Hoepen went back and forth for more than three laps to take the top spot away from the other. 

“I was fighting with Laurens in the beginning, and the DRS was making a lot of difference,” Stenshorne told Feeder Series. “I was passing him before T1, and then he would pass me again before T9.”

Van Hoepen – who eventually finished third and secured his second podium in as many sprint races this year – backed the Stenshorne’s comments. 

“Today [the DRS] was quite powerful, especially before T9, so you really had to play a bit of a tactic game, to make sure that you finished the lap where you started the end of the lap.”

A great addition to the championship

However, all three drivers who finished on the podium were happy with the overall effects of the Drag Reduction System – especially Arvid Lindblad, who used it the most out of the three to climb up to second place and challenge Stenshorne for the win. 

“We’ve seen over the last couple of years, in Formula One and in motorsport, there’s been a real push to improve racing to have closer racing,” the Brit explained to Feeder Series. “The DRS was introduced quite a few years ago, but I mean, it’s an aid to help us to have more overtaking, so I don’t think it’s something we should look to get rid of.”

With a late safety car bunching up the field ahead of the final few laps of the race, Stenshorne admittedly feared that Lindblad would take the race lead away from him, since the DRS could have been the powerful advantage the Prema driver needed to overtake him. 

“Yeah, for sure, I was a bit worried when Arvid was coming,” the Norwegian said. “He was really fast, and with the DRS, it would have been difficult to keep him behind.”

In the end, the Hitech GP driver had a perfect restart and held the lead right to the end of the race. Today’s race winner ultimately agreed with Lindblad and gave a positive overview about the Drag Reduction System. 

“I think it’s good. It makes good racing, and that’s only good.“

The same point of view was shared by Van Hoepen, who used the DRS to both attack Stenshorne in the opening stages and defend from Campos’ Mari Boya in the final laps of the race. 

”I think that the DRS is a good thing. It for sure helps the racing, and makes it easier for us to overtake. Maybe on some occasions, it might be too powerful, but honestly it’s not something we should look at. I think in general, it helps the racing really well, so yeah, I think everyone is happy with how it works.”

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency