F1 aims to drop DRS in 2021

Formula 1 is aiming to get rid of the Drag Reduction System (DRS) in 2021 with an aim to bring pure racing to the fans. DRS has seen many complaints since it was introduced in 2011, with fans deeming overtakes aided by it as 'artificial'.

The power of the system will increase from next year onwards, as F1 brings in new aerodynamic rules for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. The FIA's Nikolas Tombazis said that the new rules will allow drivers to race closer, with lap time dropping away. 

Tombazis is working on the new aerodynamic rules for 2021 with a party of engineers, and admits that they are looking at ridding the sport of DRS: "It is right that there's this underlying discomfort with DRS, and I share it as well," said Tombazis. "I know Ross [Brawn] has made similar comments, and so on.

"We feel that DRS is the right thing to have in the present state of things. And for 2021 we hope that the cars will be much more able to follow each other closely, and it will be a really nice outcome if we can severely decrease DRS in the future, or even eliminate it.

"But until we get in a position where we are comfortable enough with the wake performance and how cars can follow each other I think it's something that I would call a necessary evil perhaps at the moment."

As for the increase in the DRS effect for 2019 and 2020, Tombazis commented: "The DRS effect will increase by approximately 25-30%. That is the delta of the drag of the car when it opens the DRS and deploys it to current will be bigger, so the delta of speed of the following car will as a result be bigger by that amount. Hence the probability that you can approach the front car will increase.