DRS (Drag Reduction System) - Aye or nay?

  • Thread starter Ardius
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I don't mind it, it doesn't have a huge impact and doesn't always guarantee and overtake. In Malaysia what we saw is you had to be within around 0.6-0.7 seconds to get some use out of it and then it would put in position to go for an overtake going into turn one.

I don't like it when it just lets someone blow by another car. Webber Kobayashi had a lot of back and forth because of DRS and KERS
 
I voted "yay", because it hasn't been overly-effective.

But like a previous poster mentioned, I believe getting rid of the double-diffuser and adding Pireli tires has impacted passing more. A lot of the passing we seen at Malaysia did not happened in the DRS Zone. There was lots of passing all around the circuit. Hopefully that continues to be the case.
 
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I vote Yes, but with a place like Malaysia and Monza for example, only being able to use once per lap in the race, not a good idea.
They should be able to use it any time but only if they are within the 1 second gap.
Malaysia has two very long straights, why not be able to use them on both?
 
MrMulsanne
F1 sometimes tries too hard with fancy tech. How is a new fan supposed to understand what DRS and KERS are immediatly?
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There are plenty of explanations out there for anyone wondering/interested. The BBC also do take the time to repeatedly explain these systems in commentary, don't know about other broadcasters.
Its really a non-argument anyway, does the casual F1 fan know how the gearbox on an F1 car works? How tyres are constructed? What a splitter is? You don't need to understand or know about everything to enjoy the sport, so I don't see why a "complicated" device is a bad thing.

Just as long as the sporting regulations surrounding the use of these devices isn't complicated, which at the moment, I think it is for DRS and to a lesser extent KERS too. But the systems themselves are no more complex than many other parts of an F1 car.
 
Ardius
There are plenty of explanations out there for anyone wondering/interested. The BBC also do take the time to repeatedly explain these systems in commentary, don't know about other broadcasters.
Its really a non-argument anyway, does the casual F1 fan know how the gearbox on an F1 car works? How tyres are constructed? What a splitter is? You don't need to understand or know about everything to enjoy the sport, so I don't see why a "complicated" device is a bad thing.

Just as long as the sporting regulations surrounding the use of these devices isn't complicated, which at the moment, I think it is for DRS and to a lesser extent KERS too. But the systems themselves are no more complex than many other parts of an F1 car.
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Fair point. 👍
 
Jimlaad43
Where will the DRS zone be in Monaco, all the 'straights' are wiggly.
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We won't know until the FIA tells us, which will probably be on the Wednesday before the race. May 25th.

If I had to hazard a guess, it would probably be through the tunnel. The tunnel could reasonably be taken without any downforce - McLaren were using it there last year.
 
I don't like the contrived nature of the DRS rules. When you decide that only the trailing car can use it and only within a certain distance of the car ahead, you're adding an element of phoniness to it all. If we're going to be phony about it, we might just as well start scripting races, with computer-generated cars and tracks and actors in the cockpits.
 
interludes
If I had to hazard a guess, it would probably be through the tunnel. The tunnel could reasonably be taken without any downforce - McLaren were using it there last year.
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You can imagine whats going to happen with the DRS zone in the tunnel... piles of cars coming out the end backwards or upside down! :nervous:

I don't think there is anything to say that DRS must feature in every race (providing the weather is OK), maybe they just wont use it at Monaco but it would be damn amazing if they do.
 
I was actually thinking the other day about where a DRS zone could be put at Monaco, and the only place I could think of would be up the hill, but even then its quite twisty and therefore very narrow if you pick a straight line through it.
 
I think it's a good idea, but were it up to me, I'd take it much further.

Less drag on the straights means less energy wasted, correct? This is exactly the kind of genuine "green" technology F1 needs in this day and age. The DRS should be much more effective, perhaps applying to the front as well as the rear. Downforce is only needed in the corners, but the greatest force is generated on the straights, at the highest speeds, right when it's least needed. A DRS should be driver-controlled at all times. Active aerodynamics of a certain type are already present in many road-going cars - why should it not be in F1?

Less drag on the straights means more performance with no extra energy consumption, meaning the cars don't need to run quite as much fuel. Meaning they're a bit lighter, and so a bit more fuel efficient. Of course, for safety reasons, to ensure the cars don't take off, they'd have to run a minimum setting for it to produce enough downforce to keep the car on track on the straights.

Please discuss/debate if you wish.
 
How about an aero system that would change depending on what the car was doing at the time? Not much on the straights, but slowly adding more as the car needed it. Maybe tie it in with throttle, brake, and steering sensors so it would change according to the car's behavior instead of the drivers having to constantly turn a dial or something.
 
ty00123
How about an aero system that would change depending on what the car was doing at the time? Not much on the straights, but slowly adding more as the car needed it. Maybe tie it in with throttle, brake, and steering sensors so it would change according to the car's behavior instead of the drivers having to constantly turn a dial or something.
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You're talking about active aero. That's banned from F1.
 
True, but what's the problem with unbanning it? Then again, the driver becomes more of a passenger than anything, and I could see problems with that.
 
ty00123
How about an aero system that would change depending on what the car was doing at the time? Not much on the straights, but slowly adding more as the car needed it. Maybe tie it in with throttle, brake, and steering sensors so it would change according to the car's behavior instead of the drivers having to constantly turn a dial or something.
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Technically very difficult, and there are safety concerns. An electrical fault might cause the car to suddenly change characteristics mid-corner, and the driver could lose it big time.
 
designate-19L
Technically very difficult, and there are safety concerns. An electrical fault might cause the car to suddenly change characteristics mid-corner, and the driver could lose it big time.
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This is exactly why the 80s ground effect was banned.
 
After tonight Chinese GP I am so happy with the DRS and KERS system. Made the race so exciting. Also not to mention the pit strategy the tires are forcing.

You could tell the cars were feeding off the slip stream and the DRS tech was helping adding that extra millisecond needed to get into corners and pass the car infront.
 
FCB-Rizla-TML
After tonight Chinese GP I am so happy with the DRS and KERS system. Made the race so exciting. Also not to mention the pit strategy the tires are forcing.

You could tell the cars were feeding off the slip stream and the DRS tech was helping adding that extra millisecond needed to get into corners and pass the car infront.
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Classic Grand Prix, absolutely brilliant. Both KERS and DRS are proving their worth. Not to mention the Pirelli shoes!
 
It may have malfunctioned, but the wing doesn't just open on its own. The driver has to physically press the button or pull the trigger or do whatever it is that he has to do to make the DRS work. The only malfunction would have been in mistakenly making the DRS available to Alonso on the straight, but Alonso would have had to have operated it.
 
haitch40
This is exactly why the 80s ground effect was banned.
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Ground effect was banned to slow the cars down more than it was because of safety concerns when it fails.
Active aero was certainly banned on this fear though.

interludes
It may have malfunctioned, but the wing doesn't just open on its own. The driver has to physically press the button or pull the trigger or do whatever it is that he has to do to make the DRS work. The only malfunction would have been in mistakenly making the DRS available to Alonso on the straight, but Alonso would have had to have operated it.
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Electrics and hydraulics can fail and possibly cause it to open without Alonso triggering it.

Edit: And so we have it:

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport has learnt that an error caused Alonso's DRS to 'offset' on that lap.

That meant it was not enabled until 300m before the end of the straight, and was then available after the corner for a short time.

This meant that he gained no advantage from the situation - in fact it actually caused him a disadvantage - so was given no penalty.

FIA officials are still investigating what caused the error.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/13109394.stm
 
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They control the software which activates DRS, pretty easy to enforce it, either they simply track the usage and penalise people or they setup a "deactivation" zone.
 
I suppose the same software that can be used to regulate the opening could also be used to regulate the closing. It's only for free practice, so it doesn't make things needlessly complex.

I still think the drivers are smart enough to know when it's too much and back off.
 
Its not about being "smart enough", its simply a matter of there will be drivers who will try to use it as much as possible, and so everyone else will also have to use it as much otherwise they will be slower. It keeps going till someone crashes, this is why the FIA restricts stuff like this before it gets out of control (like the f-duct...the drivers might think its rediculous to be moving their hands all around the place covering ducts, but if everyone else is doing it and it gains them time, they will do it regardless.)

Its the same principle as taking a corner flat out - if a driver doesn't get over his fear or the logic of it not being particularly safe, then they will constantly lose time there. If you do not dare, you do not win.
 
I voted yes to it, but feel the tyres have brought more to the show. Pre Turkey, they hit the nail on the head with DRS in that it provided the chance to overtake. In Turkey it was much more "push to pass" and I didn't really pay much attention as a result. Yesterday though it wasn't long enough! I would point blame more at the track layout than the DRS though, and it did allow cars much closer to one another than previous seen at Catalunya.

Monaco will be another test for the system, but I think the entire season will be a test since no 2 circuits are the same.
 

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