Time to ditch DRS?

[Hail22]

That's one of the sillier arguments I've ever seen with regard to DRS. Winning requires not only being better, but being significantly better? That's a joke.

Agreed, perhaps he thinks Formula 1 should be run like Aircraft at higher altitude? (Autopilot)

[Shrieker]

DRS should be allowed to be used in defence as well. Otherwise its going to look very fake and false after a while.

How about this ?

DRS should only bring the chasing driver level with his opponent. It should close when the overtaker is side by side with his rival (that, or the rival should also be able to open his DRS when someone with DRS open is alongside). From thereon, it's up to the drivers to sort it out. With the technology available it's entirely possible and plausible.

Put a transponder on the cars, problem solved, no?

[Dragonfly]

Things are overly complicated already. Adding another prone to malfunction complication gimmick will only worsen things.
Reality is not like R-Factor, keep things simple and racing will be better and natural.
Seeing that the tyres alone are a big factor FIA could simply say "no DRS anymore". And IMHO, banning it on safety grounds will be among the best of their decisions.

[Nando]

I say no.

Less then half of the overtakes is with DRS so as long as it stays like that i´m fine with the idea.
For Canada i would suggest moving the activation zone way further up the road.

[Shrieker]

@Dragonfly,

Surely, on an overly complex apparatus such as an F1 car, the complexity of a transponder coupled with DRS should be trivial ?

[Dragonfly]

As I said, on a virtual car - absolutely trivial.
Not so convinced about a real one. Transponders, as those being used, are detected by a receiving loop in the track surface and have a very short range, they must not be higher than several tens of centimeters above the ground.
Making a reliable proximity detection and control system in the real racing environment does not seem a simple task to me.

[Florio]

I don't think it should be removed completely, but the activation zones should be considerably shortened on some tracks. Canada's was still a bit too long, but I think the overtaking it produced was related to the differences in tyre wear rather than 100% DRS.

[GrizzleBoy]

I find it uncomfortable that this thread has (if we're honest with ourselves) only come around due to a certain Ferrari driver being overtaken off of the podium by other cars using DRS.

If Fernando wasn't on tyres that made him between 2-3 or more seconds slower than each car that overtook him, maybe I'd be supportive of this thread.

My view is that in the end, he would not have done any defending anyway. He barely had enough rubber on his rear tyres to accelerate out of corners, let alone be darting around with defending manoeuvres for the rest of the grand prix.

Its more likely he would've slipped even further behind had he mounted any serious defence.

The DRS was not Fernandos problem in Canada.

[bhallg2k]

I find it uncomfortable that people aren't reading the initial post and then addressing this issue as if it's purely a matter of competition.

[Red Schneider]

You would never be hired to conduct a survey. I believe the question you intended to ask is, "Is DRS too dangerous?"

[bhallg2k]

I definitely made a mistake in asking an open-ended question. Lesson learned.

[Speedster]

I'll start by answering the question and then go off-topic

I don't think DRS is dangerous, even if it fails like in Michaels case. Sure, when it stays open when you don't expect it, it will be unexpected, but I can't imagine the driver not noticing it even during braking. Considering there are very few high-speed corners with walls directly behind the braking points, the risk of a serious accident is quite small in my opinion, as drivers can always brake more and use the run-off or come to a (near) stand-still. For me, it is the same as worrying about steering failures or tyre failures. A tyre may fall off, the steering may fail, but the chance of it being very dangerous is not high enough to ban it. It is a case to discuss, but in my view not a reason to ban just yet.

I'm not convinced by the use of it. It doesn't feel right. It's a solution for a problem that shouldn't exist in the first place. I do think the FIA secretly knows it, the DRS hasn't been all that effective, Lewis would've gone past Alonso and Vettel anyhow, with or without DRS, but that same DRS spoils those moves as the drivers are clearly waiting for it. I understand the difference between impossible to overtake and cruising past is tiny, and it is that difference we are looking for, but I don't think DRS is the answer to get to that point.

I have to say, I'm really enjoying the post-race analysis by Sky F1 (which I'm watching now), with a honest discussion about DRS, current racing and the merits and demerits of it. Thanks to Sky F1 for a brilliant show all-round this weekend and especially for allowing an interesting discussion that is quite critical of the state of the sport they are just beginning to broadcast, very refreshing (no, I'm not a Sky employee )

[SeijaKessen]

Let's say there was a DRS failure in a high speed corner, how bad could the accident potentially be?

[Red Schneider]

I'm not sure I like that line of reasoning. The worst case scenario is death. The worst case scenario is always death. High speed corner, the back steps out, you clip something and go flying into the air, over the fence, etc. etc.

[Speedster]

Let's say there was a DRS failure in a high speed corner, how bad could the accident potentially be?

It is very unlikely, the DRS is supposed to be closed in it's natural position. The way I grasp it is that the DRS of Schumacher stayed in the open position, which can always happen due to some failure or even an accident in which the device bends or whatever. However, it is only opened on the straights and so can only fail to close on the straights, just before a corner, which will normally be before a quite slow corner in the race (as per the DRS zones). In qualifying it can be anywhere, but as the DRS device is not at all efficient when in a corner and as it closes automatically, it will always be before a corner that the driver notices it doesn't work.

Furthermore, I agree with Red Schneider, motor racing is dangerous when something fails. I don't think DRS is any more dangerous than big engines or high speed corners.