Marcus Ericsson experienced a huge crash during Free Practice 2 on Friday and it was due to a DRS failure. I suggested via my Twitter account that we all seem to busy burping up HALO praise to focus on the real culprit and safety hazard that is the DRS. Sure, the HALO had a scuff mark on it but it would, it’s jutting out from the chassis nearly as high as the air intake roll bar above the driver’s head.
While the Autosport article suggests that the DRS has rarely been highlighted as a safety concern, I would agree because so far we’ve not had any serious injuries via a DRS failure. I recall our conversations when it was introduced in 2011 that it could be a serious concern if the wing is stuck open and the older, manual version required the driver to use their hand to activate meaning that corners would require two hands and therefore, no stuck-open DRS.
There was some talk about the concern over safety and a stuck DRS back then but the FIA forged ahead with the concept. As we saw on Friday, a stuck DRS could be catastrophic but thankfully Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson emerged unhurt.
I’ve never been a fan of the DRS and feel it is an artifice that negatively impacts the sport. I have always favored a reduction in aerodynamic downforce. Last week in Belgium the DRS was too much of an impact and yet the FIA announced yesterday that they would now be extending DRS zones for the remainder of this season’s grands prix. Double down instead of reducing and at some level, that’s understandable as passing is very difficult in f1 these days.
Regardless, Renault driver Carlos Sainz says the DRS needs to be banned.
“This artificial device, the DRS, it’s a dangerous thing,” said Sainz.
“If it doesn’t close the car changes completely. On balance, on braking performance.
“So, I’m just wondering if Formula 1 is going to develop towards no need for DRS for overtaking.
“I do feel we need DRS nowadays because otherwise overtaking would be pretty much impossible, but hopefully they develop a formula without the need of DRS.”
I agree with Carlos, it’s needed with current spec cars but I believe the series needs to change the cars and not simply add constructs to overcome aero-heavy reliance. That being said, I can’t imagine the teams being up for that unless the aero regs change. For me, the tires, DRS and aero all need to change. I also believe the engine needs to change to a more affordable solution but now the teams seem intent to retain the MGU-H because the 2021 talks didn’t seem to lure in any additional engine manufacturers.
#NODRS
Hat Tip: Autosport
Amen to all he says
Finally someone with a brain.
Change aerodynamics some cars can follow, make tires last longer, cancel drs because I’m tired of watching over takes without any skill on a straight line.
With drs most cars just line up by car speed and less driver skill at the end of the race.
Only war is between teammates.
Only first lap is fun.. this has to change
This past week has had 2 dramatic events highlighting safety, both of which are the first in recent memory. Does anyone have the data on cocokpit intrusions prevented by HALO? Does anyone have the data on DRS de-activation failure rates? I’m thinking that HALO supporters and DRS detractors would like to point to these incidents and proclaim how this supports their point of view. But from what I can think of off the top of my head is that HALO hasn’t been in use long enough and I’ve seen DRS used hundreds and hundreds of times so you can’t point… Read more »
So, jm, you want to make decisions based on evidence?
People like you have no place on an F1 forum! Lol!
Thinking about it, the ‘artificial construct’ is the ban on movable aerodynamic surfaces.
The cars would be a lot faster, if all the aero surfaces were all movable. And a following car could adjust its front aero to allow it to follow closely enough to attack when both cars wind off the wing on the way out of a corner.
Agreed. And in particular I always believed and stated that ground effect aero is the way to go, cars will able to chase close, no need of DRS and current technical knowledge and progress would surely produce safe conditions vs the cars featuring ground effect from a couple of decades ago, which were indeed dangerous.
A few F1 prominent figures think the same, I cannot remember all of them at the moment, but the last person who supported the idea is Nico Rosberg.
I would love to see DRS join grooved tires and stepped noses as bad ideas once used in F1 but unless there is a grand re-write of the aero rulebook, it’s here to stay. I was opposed to the last 2017 aero specs that gave us the present “faster-looking and faster cars” which made it even more difficult to pass. As far as the sport’s insiders are concerned, there is no problem, so why fix it? We who watch can see the problem but we can do nothing about it. I suppose, behind closed doors, Liberty’s 3 amigos are hearing… Read more »