Defending position with DRS

[Dragonfly]

Excuse my ignorance, but what is DRS?

[gridwalker]

Drag Reduction System (adjustable rear wing)

[raymondu999]

Drag Reduction System. AKA Mickey Mouse rear wing

[Shrieker]

Good points. IMHO the FIA must make sure that the drivers can not exploit the ARW in similar ways. For example, there could be a rule that prevents the driver who has been overtaken from deploying the ARW for say - half a lap or one complete lap. So if there is a possibility that the driver who has done the overtaking might increase the gap over one sec. in a complete lap, then the defending driver will not resort to such tactics. At least there should be a rule where you can not deploy your ARW in the following zone IF you've been overtaken (think about cutting a chicane; you're not allowed to overtake on the following corner, you must forfeit that corner and wait for an opportunity on the next).

[Goran2812]

this year is gonna be epic! xD a little bit of KERS here,a little bit of ARW there... a little bit of KERS & ARW in the middle...
And I do agree with Shrieker... there has to be a rule for the drivers that just got passed... ARW a big no no for a lap or so...

[marekk]

Radio during Q3: Fernando, you are to quick, there is danger of P1, have you understand the message ?

[Caito]

I think KERS and DRS combine really well. KERS is more efficient at low speed, while the DRS gives greater advantage at higher speeds.

A nice question would be, what happens if there are three cars? The two on the back gets DRS, and the one in the front loses two spots(or not).

And then what about drivers teaming up to move forward?

[Shrieker]

And then what about drivers teaming up to move forward?

Double team eh ? Why not =D>

"Driven" anyone ?

[Dragonfly]

Drag Reduction System (adjustable rear wing)

Thanks, ARW is what I knew until now.

[Pandamasque]

"bringing the sport into disrepute" (that reg applies to EVERYTHING)

Everything, apart from the regs themselves obviously, as the DRS rule is in direct contradiction to it.

[machin]

there has to be a rule for the drivers that just got passed... ARW a big no no for a lap or so...

There is a rule which says that the ARW can only be used in race situatiosn at one point in the track.... so the car that has just overtaken has a lap to stretch out a lead... having said that, I'm looking forward to some ding-dong battles with passes and re-passes lap after lap...

[timbo]

I remember reading somewhere that you can only use DRS next lap, if you was overtaking.
What I am afraid off is that if DRS proves effective, drivers would not even try to overtake one another in other areas of the track, so effectively we would have a single overtaking spot on all tracks.

[King Six]

Sorry, but i fail to see the relevance of the video.

@Marekk - do you mean actually slowing down, so that YOU are 1 second behind?

slowing down, so that you are 0,2s behind.

The rule is if you're within 1 second...

I think what the OP was saying was, if the driver who just got overtook would be allowed to use his DRS as soon as the car behind him goes infront, as a sort of counter-attack. I don't think that works, as the timing beacon is the only place where they will know exactly the time difference, and that will be just before the main straight.

It's all abit silly really, and I doubt it'll make a difference in the first race at Australia as there's not much in the way of straights or anything, which will lead even further towards its criticism.

[she_spools_180]

I think the method of "slowing down before getting to the line if you are in front" is a bit far fetched. To time it perfectly, to the point that the person (that entering the straigh, was behind you) is in front of you, but not going faster than you, when you pass the line, will be too difficult.

The adjustment would have to be made at the exit of the corner, I feel. Any slight lift of the throttle approaching the line, would give the other drive such a speed advantage, that I doubt any advantage of the DRS would not make up for it. Additionally, if you were to lift, and JUST mis-time it, and the other driver would end up 0.1s behind you, when crossing the line, then you would have just shot yourself in the foot.

I think that this move is way too risky for any driver to attempt, but we will see what happens.

[luetm]

Hi!

I really wondered if this would pay off. So I did some math. Lets say, driverA (the one that breaks to be able to use DRS) is, on the finish line due to his breaking maneuver, 5km/h slower than driverB. DRS is designed to deliver a 15km/h advantage at the end of the straight. So driverA will be 10km/h faster there than driverB. Lets assume the acceleration to be constant (linear velocity gain) and the speed of driver B to remain constant at 290km/h. Also let's assume, that the gap between the drivers at the finish line is about 1m.

In Melbourne, the distance between the finish line and the first corner is about 350m. It will take our drivers 4.3 seconds to driver this distance.

This means, that in the remaining part of the straight, one third of the time, driverB will still be faster than driverA. So at 1/3 of the way, driverA will lose another meter. Then however, he will be 5km/h faster average for 2.9 seconds, giving him 4m to gain again... 4m - 1m (lost due speed disadvantage) - 1m (at the finish line).

..so 2 meters (6.5 feet) net, which is not nothing, but also not a lot. In Monza however, this would equate to about 4.5 meters (15 feet, 600m from finish line to first corner), which is almost a car length.

TLDR version:

Melbourne - 2 meters (~6.5 feet)
Monza - 4.5 meters (~15 feet)