Am i the only one that seems to think the DRS system only really works for the big 3 of ferrari, mclaren and red bull? this may be down to a lack of bbc coverage on some of the other drivers but i just think the already slightly faster big 3 rely on there bit of extra pace + drs to get well clear whilst for other teams it doesnt deliver enough of a pace advantage to get past? in montreal we saw that on schumacher both button and webber were content to cruise behind schumacher waiting for the 2 drs zones to overtake him, thats not exciting and we dont get to see great defensive driving alongside gutsy offensive driving we just see cars swamping the slower ones. what do you think has the drs been succesful? for me kers and the tyres this year have increased the excitement and enjoyment but drs not so much.
No I don't think it favours the big three. Not in the race at least. Maybe in qualifying because they have the resources to fine tune the system (which is the same with any avenue of development) and their higher downforce levels mean they (RBR in particular) can have it open more. Has it been successful? Yes in my opinion. It was way too long in Turkey and Canada, but apart from that it's added to the racing. I hope they abandon it for next season though, 90% of the excitement this year has been generated by the tyres. Last year it would've been good, but in the Pirelli era we shouldn't need artificial elements to spice up the action.
DRS is a ****, it deprived a 7 time world champion of his podium that would have been well deserved. Button and Webber passed with ease because of their DRS advantage, as the Mercedes was so very slow, it was a sitting duck. If they were to pass naturally they would have been wavering behind the Petronas sign on the Mercedes until the end of the race.
I think it seems to work best on the Renault, they seem to have great traction and with their DRS open they also have a good top speed. You might be right about the TV only covering the top teams, because the only time you notice this is when a Ferrari, McLaren, or Webber comes up behind a Renault and they seem to have alot of trouble passing one.
I like DRS on principle as a tool to help reduce the negative (and unnatural) effects of aerodynamics but I'd also appreciate a season with just the new tyres (although there are rumours that Pirelli will be more conservative next season) and KERS, in order to evaluate the amount of action (including successfully defending against a faster driver) they can generate. A spirited defence, however, should not depend on the attacker behind being compromised by dirty air as much as it has for the past decade in F1, which is equally (or even more) unfair. On balance, DRS is by far preferable to aerodynamic effect on the chasing car because, if there can't be a fair fight, the faster car should end up ahead. Unfortunately this season that's usually Vettel, but that's by-the-by. It doesn't favour only the big three - it favours the faster car/driver and that can change race to race and throughout the field. Unfortunately this season it's usually Vettel, but that's neither here nor there. Incidentally "the big three" are the big three because of budget and it's actually "the big four" so Schumacher's not exactly pitiable. His team won the WCC in 2009, too, so it's not as if they're newcomers still finding their feet.
DRS has worked. Tyres have worked. And KERS should never have vanished for a season after its first appearance. So, sticking with DRS: The difficulty is with regulating it to precisely the right amount, so that its advantage allows a following driver to get alongside in the braking zone (rather than simply breezing past on the straight) when those making the call are having to make a guess at how effective it will be at each circuit. My argument has always been that the sooner DRS is deregulated - so as to be allowed anywhere on the circuit provided a driver is within 1 second of the car ahead - the better; although I accept that the logistics are not yet there. There are a couple of points to bear in mind when criticizing DRS: It is the same for all drivers A following driver has to be able to close the gap to less than a second behind - - - As for the idea that it is of greater benefit for the top teams (and yes, I'd definitely include Mercedes in such a statement); well, the slower teams are also making it work but the differences between them are often bigger than the front runners, meaning they are less likely to get within the required one second gap. And of course, the TV coverage is going to tend to be more focussed at the sharp end of the action.
the rules need to be changed a bit, I'd prefer them to be given a set amount of time the DRS could be opened for the whole of the race, then we could see it used for defence and attack, much like turbo boosting was in the 80's, a strategic option. And Manny, they were content to stay behind Schumacher simply because they knew they could use the DRS zones, why risk when you don't have to? He got overtaken at 'impossible to overtake' Monaco, so saying he wouldn't have been overtaken on a track that is conducive to overtaking is a bit of a misnomer.
Some good points made here Cosi. The thing that always struck me is how unfair it can sometimes be on the lead driver in that they have nothing to defend with other than blocking the inside line. As we have seen in places such as Canada and China, the overtaking was sometimes ridiculously easy. In other races, like Spain, the DRS didn't seem as affective and I think just as many overtakes, if not more, happened in the middle of the circuit rather than the pit straight. What if you could only use DRS on its own rather than with KERS? Then the lead car could defend with KERS whilst the following car attempts to overtake using DRS? I guess once they increase KERS power that probably won't work. Perhaps they should reduce the gap in the rear wing a little bit, just so overtakes are not quite as easy as it sometimes has been.
Any ideas like this can be posted on the Fans Forum Thread so they can be collected and given to Manny to take with him.
