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I remember a video where they explained the "constant torque" gearboxes(now known as DSG and they said it gave 6km/h advantage over the straight, which was(don't remember the circuit) a full car ahead of a car without the gearbox.
Actually I wonder. If you brake so that you're a front wing behind the other guy come into the measurement beam, that would mean you're DRS-elligible. But if you position it well so that you're down the inside (a la an outbraking maneuver), doesn't that mean you could use the DRS for DEFENSE rather than OFFENSE?
So I slow down just before the time-difference checkpoint to fall just behind my pursuer, then use DRS to overtake him back on the straight?
I'm sure if you ask any driver they'll just say "no"... There are too many variables. I think what would most likely happen is that the car slowing down would have lost too much momentum, it would be impossible to gain back on the straight even with DRS. Bear in mind that if a car is coming up at your back it is usually quicker than yourself, so conceding position and letting him run off in the final corner might already have lost you enough time (a tenth or two?) to foil your plans to overtake him back.
I think the idea of teammates helping each other out to gain mutually quicker lap times is also not gonna happen, because of intra-team rivalry and also because of the tricky nature of such an implementation. On the other hand, it might give us a good show because it fuels that rivalry even more, bringing the guy behind even closer (Red Bull has a serious job of controlling how Seb and Mark are going to fight, as I think it is going to happen more often).
What DRS would really do, in my view, is actually to encourage cars behind to try and come up behind cars in front. That's what we really need to see, instead of the actual overtaking IMO.
The situation I'm saying is, Car A outbrakes Car B. Car B is ahead, but Car A has track position by virtue of the fact that Car B cannot turn in. He's already ahead, but then he can punch in DRS and fly away. Car A being the one originally behind, not originally ahead.
