Jolyon Palmer thinks DRS "gives us a better battle at the front"

After the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix where the cars were unable to use DRS for nearly 20 laps, many have called for the drag reduction system to be removed from Formula 1. Jolyon Palmer doesn't think this is a good idea because faster cars could be stuck behind the slower ones. 

“I would say on a whole no, don’t ban DRS,” Palmer said to the Chequered Flag podcast.

“I actually way preferred the first half of the race with no DRS, we saw some good moves, Turn 5 – Valtteri Bottas, [Carlos] Sainz tried to pass [Daniel] Ricciardo.

“It was unconventional stuff around the outside, it was good stuff, we saw some late-braking moves.

“But, while that’s all well and good, what we want to see is racing at the front, and for that I think we need DRS."

Palmer believes that the lack of DRS meant that some of the front runners were held up behind the midfield cars which could have impacted the race at the front. 

“[Lewis] Hamilton couldn’t pass [Charles] Leclerc at Monza with DRS, with no DRS he’s got zero chance," Palmer said. 

“For the top teams on an even strategy, we just need DRS.

“When someone has pitted, like we had when Vettel was behind Bottas [in Abu Dhabi], who was behind Nico Hulkenberg who hadn’t pitted in a Renault, that was a nice train.

“But that’s never going to decide the race, so I think we have to focus on what will give us a better battle at the front, which is effectively what everyone is tuning in for, and that is DRS.”

Fans will hope that the new 2021 cars will be able to pass each other without the use of DRS and that there will be competitive racing throughout the grid.