<< Return to the news list

DRS 'won't disappear' in the near future

Published on 15 Feb 2018 17:17
11
By: Fergal Walsh

Formula 1 will not be getting rid of the Drag Reduction System (DRS) in the short future, according to managing director of motorsport Ross Brawn. DRS was introduced in 2011 to allow more overtaking on track.

The flap at the rear wing opens when a car is less than one second behind a competitor during a race and allows the car to gain 10–12 km/h down a straight. However, many have questioned the system, stating that it only creates artificial racing.

But DRS proved to be vital during the 2017 season. While it did, on occasion, allow for an easy pass, there were occurrences when the system allowed the car behind to pull alongside the driver ahead and make the overtake into the corner, rather than on the straight.

And Brawn says that while DRS may leave the sport eventually, it will not be anytime soon: "My hope is that when we identify how the cars should evolve in the future, that may be a feature we can turn off. But I don’t see it disappearing in the near future. It's a necessary Band-Aid because of the nature of the cars at the moment."

With overtaking down by 47% in 2017 compared to 2016, F1 is investigating how to make cars naturally follow each other to allow overtaking without an artificial device or method: "That’s our objective. And unlike the DRS, it won’t be a switch we turn on overnight, it will be an evolution of the cars. Each step we make has got to be in that direction.

"In other words we create a model, and that model means as you plug features in, you can see whether the raceability of the cars improves or deteriorates. And that model won’t only be an aerodynamic model, it will be a model that will have to include the tyre characteristics and engine characteristics and other factors on the car, where we put different elements in to help us understand whether what we are doing is making the racing better or worse. And that’s something we’ve lacked. We’ve been using our intuition, and that’s not good enough now with the complexity of these cars."

F1 News

Replies (11)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
If it'll continue to be as subtle as it was in 2017 I dont see why we shouldnt keep it.
- + 0
- Feb 15 2018 - 18:14
- f1fan0101
  
  Posts: 1,804
  Until F1 returns to the ways of the past then yes I agree
  + 0
  
  Feb 15 2018 - 18:49
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  It wont.
  + 0
  
  Feb 15 2018 - 18:56
ajpennypacker

Posts: 2,475
Maybe I'm no aerodynamicist, but I thought the problem was clearly the amount of turbulence generated by significant increase in aero bits of the last few years. Is there a reason F1 needs to have so much aero compared to what we had 15 years ago for example? It's true the cars are faster, but I don't think many people care about marginally faster F1 cars if they are not racing wheel to wheel.
- + 0
- Feb 15 2018 - 19:14
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Thats the contradictory bit when it comes to technical sports like F1. People love numbers (and no, these are not just marginally faster, if last year's numbers are anything to go by), but they also love close racing. People think better numbers means better action. Usually it doesnt. Im not necessarily against having more aero than we used to, but I think it could be sound to tone it down a bit in favour of more mechanical grip. I realize mechanical grip has it's own set of limitations, but it doesnt hamper the racing as much.
  
  As a side note: I find it very cool that the current cars are significantly faster compared to what we've had earlier, despite being pretty darn heavy.
  + 0
  
  Feb 15 2018 - 19:35
- ajpennypacker
  
  Posts: 2,475
  My comparisons were mostly to cars pre 2004. But the truth is that I don't think most fans can tell the difference if a car is 2s or 3s faster. Especially when so much aero makes the car appear incredibly stable while cornering. However, fans can definitely tell when cars are racing close to each other, when they can push the cars without fear of destroying the tyres in one attempt, or at the very least, follow each other closely. I think 2017 cars were some of the best looking cars F1 has ever produced. I the big tyres are definitely a big plus. I just think that even with minor changes like limiting the size of the front and back wings, it would significantly minimize turbulence. But again, maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.
  + 0
  
  Feb 15 2018 - 20:19
- Pauli
  
  Posts: 140
  Actual modern F1 cars have only marginally more downforce than on many seasons 15-30 years ago but they have much more votexes around car controlling air flow. The reasons for worse aerodynamics range from multiple rules that either have tried to slow down cars to improve safety or make driving artificially harder by banning technologies. Those band have resulted to development towards similar downforce levels without impacting driving difficulty that much. But real result has been that teams learned to build vortexes around cars because optimal configurations for smooth surface airflows aren't allowed.
  + 0
  
  Feb 15 2018 - 21:54
- Pauli
  
  Posts: 140
  Plus there is no such thing as mechanical grip! ;) What could be called mechanical grip is simple tyre compound and temperature effect on tyre compound. But we won't be seeing enough improvements there to ever offset importance of downfoce component.
  + 0
  
  Feb 15 2018 - 21:57
- ajpennypacker
  
  Posts: 2,475
  @Pauli What do you mean by vortexes around the cars?
  + 0
  
  Feb 15 2018 - 22:37
kngrthr

Posts: 203
remove the plank, give engineers the floor back and reduce wing size, especially the front
- + 0
- Feb 16 2018 - 13:20
Major Tom

Posts: 152
I don't particularly object to DRS and it certainly improves the racing. Also I can't see anybody ever succeeding in reducing the bad effects of the wake from cars - not when every team must see the competitive advantages of having as disruptive a wake as possible.
- + 0
- Feb 16 2018 - 14:36