The Black Stuff

Some people love F1′s Drag Reduction System and some people hate it. It’s just one of those marmite things in life that some people are going to adore and others are going to think is a pox on their existence. For one group it is an artificial thing, and if a faster car stuck behind a slower car can’t get past then they should jolly well drive harder and earn their money. For another group, it is a fun device that ensures cars don’t get stuck out of position and ruin races. My only real gripe with them is the FIA insist on putting the DRS zones in the places where overtaking happens anyway rather than elsewhere on the track, but that is neither here nor there.

All in all, DRS has been quite a success. It has indeed made boring tracks where overtaking is rare more lively, and has added an extra element of skill to qualifying. That doesn’t mean that the system is set in stone, though. The FIA is forever tinkering with zone lengths and how many they should even have, and that is the way that it should be. Here is an idea, though – how about non-DRS tracks. 

The idea of having different technical specs for different tracks isn’t revolutionary in motor racing. In NASCAR, restrictor plate tracks exist where the cars are artificially slowed slightly. With the new IndyCar chassis, the cars are completely unidentifiable between road and oval courses rather than using one tool for both. They are both technical specs for different tracks based on need. So, why should DRS be any different.

There are a lot of F1 tracks which, frankly, don’t need DRS. Off the top of my head, Malaysia, China, Canada, Silverstone, Hungary, South Korea, Brazil, Belgium and Japan have traditionally had a lot of overtaking, even in the days where the cars ran uniformly 5 seconds apart and Schumacher buggered off down the road to another dull victory. At these tracks, DRS can be said to cheapen the action considerably.

Case in point – before his car crapped out on him in Canada, Schumacher took a great dive down the inside of a Kobayashi at the hairpin before the monster straight. He was late on the brakes, flatspotted a tyre and was rather brave, it was a great overtake. Kobayashi then proceeded to drive past him in a straight line thanks to DRS. Along the same lines, when Hamilton was moving through the field after his triumphant second stop, he eased off when fighting Alonso to make sure that he didn’t overtake him too early and could do it easily with DRS.

Some tracks absolutely need DRS to either liven them up (Valencia and Abu Dhabi) or to give overtaking a chance at a track where it hasn’t traditionally been forthcoming (Australia, Monaco, Spain, Singapore). There is nothing wrong with that, that was the brief for the technology when it came in to the sport. However, what the technology gives to those tracks it takes away from those where you can overtake.

Obviously running different spec rear wings at different tracks would raise its own issues, and the teams wouldn’t want to have to develop two rear wings for different demands. Rules would need to be in place to stop that, and allowing the use of DRS in qualifying would not only achieve that but also give an added strategic element of what the hell you’d do with the gearing, do you go fat in 7th for qualifying and be at a disadvantage in the race or do you run race gearing in qualifying and risk being way down the field.

Another option is to move the DRS zone at tracks where there is always overtaking to another section where you can’t drive past in a straight line or have a huge advantage into the next corner, but to a zone where you’ll just get an advantage and get a bit closer.

Either way, the time has come for F1 to look at its use of DRS. The technology is established and from all but the most purist quarters is begrudgingly accepted as better than processional races where overtaking is impossible. The time has now come to micromanage it, and ask the question as to whether individual tracks really need it, especially in what are prime overtaking spots anyway, come Sundays.