Fans will be told when drivers can use DRS

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Charlie Whiting says fans will be shown on TV when drivers are able to use the Drag Reduction System.

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FIA race director Charlie Whiting spells out rear wing rulings (James Allen)

“There will be marks (lines) on the track to show the area where proximity is being detected and a line across the track at the point where the drivers whose system is armed may deploy it. Furthermore, the television broadcasters will be sent a signal each time a system is armed and this will be displayed to the viewers.”

May deadline remains for Bahrain GP (Autosport)

Jean Todt: “As you all know, on advice from the Bahrain Motor Federation we have had to skip the inaugural Grand Prix in that country due to severe social unrest. We have asked our Bahraini colleagues to inform us by May 1st on whether the race can take place. We wish them well in their ongoing attempts to resolve their issues.”

Vijay Mallya on Twitter

“Just reviewed Force India’s VJM04 F1 car for [the] 2011 season. Many new design concepts which will be optimised by race four. Good reliability.”

Via the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app

Jonathan Legard on Twitter

“At last got my chance to see ‘Senna’ film. Mesmerising subject, brilliantly filmed. Oh for regulat tv access like that.”

Didn’t want to spend my life thinking what if: Narain Karthikeyan (Hindustan Times)

“It is true that all the money I made while racing in NASCAR I have already spent this season, but I didn’t want to pass up on an F1 return because I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life thinking ‘what if’?”

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Comment of the day

No, I’m not giving COTD to myself, it’s a different Keith C:

I saw the first two Long Beach Grands Prix. If you note the left-right-left etc… after the hairpin – I somehow wandered a little closer to the track in 1977 (first year; little idiot control) and have never been as amazed before or since as to how fast these cars/drivers go through the corners. Great video to remember.

Not to disparage current amazing capabilities, I once stood (legally this time) at the end of the Montreal track right before the ‘Welcome to Quebec’ half-chicane and could not believe that they braked/changed down/turned so fast that it seemed like one constant (loud) movement. In awe!
Keith C in NY

From the forum

Thoughts from MattB on F1 vs Indy Car.

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Rob Wilson!

On this day in F1

Lewis Hamilton began his journey to the 2008 world championship by winning an action-packed Australian Grand Prix.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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127 comments on “Fans will be told when drivers can use DRS”

  1. That’s great news about the DRS, but frankly I can’t imagine they’d have gotten away with not providing that kind of information to the fans. Glad they’re doing it right.

    Happy birthday to Rob Wilson!

    1. ‘Doing it right’? Yeah, I guess in the same way that telling the fans when folding chairs are allowed into the post-race grudge match ring is ‘doing it right’.

      The fact that people are responding positively to a twist of the knife that DRS stuck through the heart of F1 is horrifying – I only wish I could say I was as surprised by the “fan” response as I was by this confirmation of a nearly literal application of F-Zero arcade game mechanics to F1 reality.

      I mean, come on – how can any of you here even pretend to stomach painted ‘Powerup Zone!!’ lines on the track, booming announcements to the crowds of SUUUUPER SPEEEEED, and lights on the drivers’ controllerssteering wheels that might as well say, “PRESS B BUTTON NOW”?

      It’s beyond disgusting. Truly, truly beyond.

      1. SUUUUPER SPEEEEED, lol, love it. Its very true

        1. Perisoft, i don’t understand why you are so angry.

          That is great news about showing us, i hope they do it in a fancy way :)

      2. I’m not happy that they’ve introduced the DRS, but if they’re going to use it, I’m happy that it sounds like it will at least be as transparent as possible for all of us watching. Sorry to “disgust” you.

      3. Finally, a bit of common sense. What next, a grenade in a football going off at random times, all in the name of “improving the show”?

        Its ludacris. Medals table, fake wet races, short cuts, overtaking zones….I don’t see an odd one out here.

        1. Ludacris? WHERE??? He was really good in Crash.

          1. Haha he was surprisingly good wasn’t he!

      4. Perhaps a little bit overdone in vitriol there PeriSoft, but all too true nonetheless. My hope is that in one way or another this will prove to be unworkable/ridiculous/pointless and we’ll lose it at the latest for next season. It really does say Mario Kart.

      5. I think they should just get rid of the drivers. Employ joystick jockeys for a pittance. Then we could have rockets and spikes to slow up the faster cars. The auto rain system could double as fire control, so the remote controlled cars don’t get too badly burned. Bring on the medals. Not only do you get points for winning but for taking out the competition. I can’t wait for the 2020 season of ‘F1 the pinnacle of motor racing’.

        (yes, i’m off my meds…)

        1. I compete in the Sport of radio control car racing. Perhaps if F1 goes that way, my sport will get more coverage.

          1. ha ha ha.
            reminds me of the mclaren vid. http://goo.gl/7ULji (watch till the end!)

            what do you have to say about the water spill? great “entretainment” !!

        2. I agree, it’s as if watching B-spec mode in GT5, with mario kart like features. What’s next, displace oil on the ground behind u? Anyone watch Death Race? F1 is one step away. So many gimmicks, what happened to real racing? Leave the gimmicks to video games.

      6. Perisoft, I totally understand why you are so angry.

  2. Wooo! i was wondering whether i would get the mention! :D

    1. Happy birthday Meester!

      1. Yes indeed, happy birthday.

    2. Happy Birthday Rob!

    3. Happy Birthday!

      1. Happy birthday! Alex Bkk is double excited! :P

    4. Happy Birthday!

    5. Happy birthday!

  3. The 2008 Aussie GP was brilliant. Lots of crashes :P

    I think Australian is the best place to start. Drivers are still not 100% familiar with their cars (especially the rookies and the old men returning) which means lots of crashing and unpredictability which is what everyone wants and not false overtaking

    1. Crashes are spectacular and can often turn a processional race on its head when the safety car bunches up the field. But the one crash I still wish never happened in 2010 was Alonso in Belgium. It completely ruined a possible scrap for the lead between Hamilton and Webber. It was shaping up to be a battle reminiscent of 2008 before Alonso stuck his Ferrari in the hedge. So I agree, crashes are pretty spectacular, but there were barely any in the 2010 Australian Grand Prix and it was the best race ever held at the circuit. I will be at the circuit so this will sound strange, but I am praying for rain! :)

      1. Seeing Alonso crash is always nice :P

        I assumed that after the Safety Car bunched up the field, the last few laps after it pulled in would be amazing- but they were pretty uneventful. Shame

        1. Come on now Ned, you’re a nice guy, don’t wish crashes on anyone.

          1. I was just kidding. I don’t like Alonso but I don’t enjoy seeing him piling into the wall like he did at Interlagos 2003, for example. But I’d be lying if I said I don’t like seeing him slide off harmlessly into retirement

      2. Barely any crashes in the Australian GP 2010?? Kobayashi had a spectacular crash on the 1st lap when his wing got stuck under his front wheels

        1. Barely any crashes in the Australian GP 2010?? Kobayashi had a spectacular crash on the 1st lap when his wing got stuck under his front wheels

          Yes, but after that, the only thing that resembled a crash was Webber taking Hamilton off. It was good in Melbourne, because they got the big crash out of the way at the start and the rest of the race was relatively crash-free. :P But I still wonder if Rosberg would have retaken the position off Hamilton had Vettel not spun out…

  4. Ok, so what measures have been put in place to monitor exactly when, and for how long, drivers deploy the DRS outside of these so called track marks? And what happens if the driver makes a mistake and misses the timing limit by a few seconds or a few hundred meters? Or mistakenly leaves the thing on? Or says that it was a mistake, but in fact does it purposely? Exactly how is the governing body going to monitor if DR system is being exploited?

    1. the system won’t be activate on the car other than when its allowed, therefore it can’t be used illegitimately

      1. yes but how does one determine if it is active or not?

        1. Drivers will be informed by a light on their steering wheel. Audiences will be informed by on-screen graphics.

          1. but that still does not really prevent the driver (or the driver+engineers) from exploiting the system

          2. no, but the fact that all cars run a standardised ECU (which the Race organizers have access to and i assume control of certain elements of) they can probably be turned on and off by race control. Same with kers.

      2. to add to that, it would have been much easier to simply allow the teams to use the DR whenever they want. Why limit its use? I do not see the purpose to it.

        1. A light will go on when it can be used.

          to add to that, it would have been much easier to simply allow the teams to use the DR whenever they want

          My thoughts exactly

          1. Your mistake is that you thought that any of this has anything to do with racing. It’s not about making sense – it’s about creating as many fake overtakes as possible, because everyone knows that lots of overtaking = good racing, and little overtaking = bad racing.

          2. @PeriSoft

            I don’t think these overtakes will be “fake” (drivers are going to have to dive off line out of a slipstream with tires that degrade more and in a very small window for use), but if you give drivers an item to use they should be able to use it at will/when it is mechanically possible.

        2. Why limit its use?

          Because the FIA want it to be an overtaking aid, not an overtaking replacement.

          1. And I guess giving access at any time and at any point on track kind of negates the purpose.

          2. More like FOTA proposed this as a solution to the perceived problem of lack of overtaking.

          3. so then its not racing anymore is it. It is a system whereby a driver is instructed to use an aid when indicated by the “masters” so that they can overtake the said car. Why not just simply introduce a rule that says: if a car is behind you, you must move over so that it can overtake you. Or at this stage we should replace all drivers by an AI instrument so that it can drive the car the way we instruct it to.

            And who then decides under which critical circumstances the light should come on or when it should not? I think this is not an easy task and by no means a fare one. I mean the system will clearly favor certain situations more than they should

            I understand what everyone is saying its just I think DRS will not quite work the way everyone thinks.

        3. Because it would be an absolute disaster for overtaking. Being able to stall the rear wing on the straights would enable the teams to run a higher downforce setting on their cars, thus compounding the problem we currently have now with wakes.

          1. They will be ‘fake’ overtakes to me, no matter how anyone dresses it up.

          2. And not being able to pass someone simply because of the cars’ physics will always be fake defending to me.

            I was very, very, very critical when they were first announced and I still wish we didn’t have them. But let’s not pretend artificiality is anything new when it comes to overtaking. It might turn out to be a good idea with the effect only noticeable in Hamilton-Sutil/Alonso-Petrov situations. or it really might produce a free-for-all and cheapen everything.

          3. I think people are going a little off topic on DRS. It is there to allow a faster car to pass a slower car by effectively removing the wake produced by the slower car. We have seen it many times over where a faster car is effectivly held but by a slower one eg alonso and petrov last year (although this made me happy seeing alonso held up!). Remember the car being allowed to use DRS must be within 1 second (or the FIA stated time frame) of the car in front. Meaning that car although behind on the track is faster and can only not overtake due to the dirty air produced by the leading car. does that all make sense???? I hope so!!!!!!

          4. I agree with Icthyes completely.

            It really alarms me how people want to call the racing fake, you sound like politicians.

            Yacht racing is drastically different to F1, but the racing is still “real”. My opinion, is as long as each team and driver race under the same rules, it’s fair game.

  5. Eew… DRS, by the knowledge of photography on DSLRs, it is a term known as – Dust Reduction System. Pity, now we have it on F1 known as Drag Reduction System, and they’re SO artificial with the line marking of when and where to deploy.

    FIA, this is not an arcade game. The world of F1 is so doomed, it’s no longer real and pure motor racing. It’s just – FOR THE SHOW!

    1. Then the answer is simple: don’t watch it.

      1. My sentiments exactly. I’m getting a bit tired of all the cynics who seem to know best. We’ve yet to even see a race yet with DRS. I’ll be holding my judgement until I’ve seen a few races this season.

        1. I’m excited. Its not going to be as easy as people think; the driver is going to have to be very brave to use it. I have a feeling Kobayashi will master it ;)

          1. I reckon the younger guy will be better equiped -they’ve grown up using PS3s and X-boxes!

        2. Thirded. Why it’s any less ridiculous that you need a 1.5s advantage to overtake anyone is beyond me.

        3. You’re right. We should reserve our judgments till we have seen the impact of DRS in races. I have been skeptical of the idea as well, but then again, it doesn’t offer the chasing driver that much of an advantage that it undermines real overtaking ability. The way I look at it… a chasing driver always loses a certain amount of aerodynamic efficiency when he is following the car in front closely, and this 600m zone just levels the playing field a little bit.

        4. What the hell difference does it make how entertaining the result is? If they planned on painting over the Mona Lisa with brighter colors to make it more ‘exciting’, would you advise withholding judgment until you see the result?

          You guys are completely missing the point: Even if the end result is “fun-to-watch racing”, its entire existence is antithetical to the nature of motorsport. It doesn’t matter one hot god damn how fun the result is. It’s still not racing.

          1. its entire existence is antithetical to the nature of motorsport.

            And what exactly is your definition of the nature of motorsport.?

          2. Among its essential characteristics is that the capability of a car or driver is not altered by the sporting circumstances in which it finds itself.

            Altering the performance of a vehicle *because of its position vs. another one* is absurd. It punishes drivers for going quickly. How is it difficult to understand how that goes against the nature of racing?

            Penalty weighting does the same thing, but DRS manages, by altering the rules not only every race but *every corner*, to drastically outdo even the idiocy of penalty weights (which have seen drivers screech to a halt before the finish line in order to keep weight off their cars at the next race).

            I’m honestly gobsmacked that so many people are unable to understand this.

            Call me old-fashioned, but can you imagine Fangio or Ascari racing in a series that pulled crap like this?

            Would you feel a math test was fair if students who did worse than you had the results of the hard questions stricken, but you were given no such courtesy? No – it’s unfair. It’s unsporting. It’s contrived, fake, and an insult to the intelligence and honor of drivers and spectators.

  6. Will be nice to see & know which driver will be using DRS during the race.

  7. Keith have you thought about using PJs poster in your race build ups during the season?

    1. I hope they can work something out so that Keith can use those, they’re fantastic, and it would once again set F1F in a higher league than any other F1 site out there.

      1. Maybe a commission on their sales, like the Amazon deal? I’d buy one!

  8. Does anyone know if the races will be broadcast in HD in the United States?

    1. Yep. If you get SPEED in HD you’ll get the races in HD. I won’t be able to upgrade my DVR to HD until after Melbourne unfortunately, so I’m gonna miss out on the first HD race…

  9. by the time VJM04 gets new parts, other teams will be further away from them…

    1. Maybe, but then again I remember a lot of people here poo-pooing Renault’s predictions of good development last year with exactly that same argument and yet…

  10. Kudos to Karthileyan, for using his own money to race in F1. Now I wonder how much Tata brought and how much came out of his own pockets.

    1. After reading that article, Karthikeyan went up a notch in my books. Although I do make Karthikeyan a butt of many jokes, I must admit, that this guy wanted another shot at redemption badly enough to put his career earnings into HRT. I’m guessing his motivation to make an impact is definitely there, but he couldn’t have joined a worst team on the grid. I do wish him the best of luck..

      1. Yeah, best of luck to him. I had assumed (wrongly?) that the money came from sponsors of his only. I hope he can earn the money back, even if thats all that comes from his drive.

      2. If there was an article saying the people running HRT were putting their all into HRT would you rate them a notch higher as well?

        1. No.

          If you said mechanics and engineers were putting their life savings into HRT then they would go up a notch. Putting all their effort into their F1 team is just expected of them.

  11. This reminds me of the KERS battery symbol :D Loved seeing that go down.

  12. Looking forward to seeing this new display in action for the first time!!
    Also if DRS slightly improves a faster driver/cars chance of barging through the dirty air and overtaking, then I’m a fan.
    As mentioned before, the speed speed advantage required to overtake with these super slippery new cars was far to great.

    1. The only thing I worry about is that the better your aero package, the sooner you can use it coming onto the straight and because they can use it in qualifying all the time (I don’t support this at all) it’s just going to give the advantage back to aero again. Qualifying was so dull for most of last year, I don’t want a repeat of that, hopefully we’ll see some tyre gambles shaking things up.

  13. @Keith: off topic, but since a week or maybe two, the full version of the site is almost unviewable on my iphone. It takes forever to build up the site and sometimes an article just doesn’t want to load. I use the iphone4 with standard OS and browser (don’t know which versions, can’t find it in the thing).

    All other websites work fine. For now I’m using the mobile version again, good braintraining to interpret which comment replies to what..;-)

    1. Thanks Verstappen I’ll have a look.

      1. I’ve had the same problem as well for a while now regardless of what browser or platform I’m viewing the site on. Sometimes I have to refresh a page five or more times before it actually loads in full. I usually get the top bar, then it gets stuck in an infinite loop between a couple ad servers….

        1. Ditto US_Peter. I’m running Chrome, but I’ll try with a few other browsers later.

  14. JamieFranklinF1
    16th March 2011, 8:31

    I don’t understand why everyone is getting so angry with the DRS. It won’t create artificial overtaking, because I don’t believe it’s as effective as everyone says it is.

    With the new tyres throwing a lot more rubbish off the racing line, it will be MORE difficult to pass someone due to the lack of grip. So therefore, the DRS is a good idea because it will equal that out, if not just help a little more than that.

    Even if the driver overtakes, then they’ll probably be slower because of the marbles, and this could create some exciting battles.

    My opinion is that you shouldn’t write off a system that you haven’t actually seen in action yet.

  15. This might be old news, but Red Bull are looking for a reporter

    Or, given the date they’ve used, it could be a joke! ;)

  16. When will drivers be able to use DRS in practice and qualifying?

    1. I think they said that it can be used at any time. I’ll have to check that, though.

      1. Yes they will use it anytime in Qualifying & Practice but only restricted during the races.

    2. Unlimited during pratice and quali, Rubens raised a concern about it here.

      https://www.racefans.net/2011/03/10/barrichello-concerned-rear-wing-dangers/

  17. DeadManWoking
    16th March 2011, 9:19

    Keith

    In the Autosport version of the interview with Whiting

    http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89956

    there is the following quoted from him:

    If a car can get within one second of any other car, the driver will have the opportunity open to him, irrespective of their relative race positions.

    1. I’m trying to get clarification from the FIA on this because the preceding question is oddly-worded.

      If indeed they’re going to let lapped cars use DRS when they’re within a second of a lap ahead of them, that would be surprising.

      1. In the official timing, if you’re a lap down aren’t you marked as +1 LAP? Therefore, technically, they’re more than 1 second behind them.

        1. That’s the way I see it.

        1. It is surprising because it would clearly be an incorrect interpretation of the rules.

          The rule says “It will only be enabled if the driver is less than one second behind another”. In a situation where one driver is more than a lap behind another they are not “one second behind” – they’re going to be at least 70 seconds behind at the shortest tracks.

          What we’re talking about is ‘unlapping’, not ‘overtaking’, which is what the system was designed to improve.

          I wonder if the FIA are fudging the distinction because their timing system doesn’t allow them to take into account the possibility of two passing cars not being in a race for position.

          1. I wonder if they’re fudging the distinction because their timing system doesn’t allow them to take into account the possibility of two passing cars not being in a race for position.

            That’s actually a very good point. But this is highlighting how little the FIA have actually bothered to clarify – and we’re not long over a week away from the season opener…

          2. DeadManWoking
            16th March 2011, 10:00

            I have always interpreted that to mean “physically” 1 second behind another car with no regard for their position in the race. I think this was their intention from the beginning or they would have specified race position in the rule.

          3. Has that car in front not “physically” covered a whole lap more?

            Sorry to keep banging on about it but this interpretation makes no sense to me.

          4. i guess that would mean that lapped cars will not be able to use it.

          5. DeadManWoking
            16th March 2011, 10:18

            That’s because you have always read more into the rule than is actually there. It’s simply a timing point that activates the system on the second car when it passes within 1 second of the first.

          6. Where in the regulations are you getting the bit about the “timing point” from?

          7. DeadManWoking
            16th March 2011, 11:00

            The regulation says the system will be activated when “the driver is less than one second behind another at any of the pre-determined positions around each circuit”; it says nothing about their relative positions in the race, it only refers to their time gap relative to pre-determined positions on the track which are the “timing points”.

          8. I think we’re going round in circles now.

          9. DeadManWoking
            16th March 2011, 11:21

            Let’s not try to obfuscate the argument with semantics. If the 1 second gap is relative to a pre-determined position on the circuit then it must be measured at that point, making that position ipso facto a timing point.

          10. I’m not trying to ‘obfuscate’ anything. I think we disagree on the definitions.

          11. DeadManWoking
            16th March 2011, 11:30

            Agreed! :D

  18. this is an ok idea, being done quite badly.

  19. I have a very big question. In terms of the two cars’ relative position, there are 3 phases in a pass. Car A is leading, Car B is following.

    first, Car B is trailing Car A.
    then, Car B is alongside Car A, or of kind of equal track position
    finally, Car B is ahead of Car A.

    If the pass is performed on a straight, after Car B is alongside, then Car A would be behind Car B, and within the 1 second zone, and in a DRS activation zone. Does that mean he can then deploy his DRS? Keith?

    1. No, you can only use it once a lap when you are within one second at a particular point. Since you will have passed the timing point, you can’t deploy your own DRS to re-pass.

  20. I read on a site that when they deploy DRS the Radio broadcast will also play this sound to notify us.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOQBlXYQGtA

  21. What if you are a lap down, but in a much much faster car? i.e. You are a lap down because of an incident (which may or may not have been your direct fault).

  22. I agree with those saying “wait and see”. If it should all be “just about the racing”, then why have a deliberately weak tyre? If F1 is supposed to be about racing and cutting edge technology then engineering more pit stops is no worse than a DRS in my view. I could forgive the tyre issue if they gave substantially better grip than the Bridgestones for a few laps (in a kind of ‘performance vs durability trade-off) but that doesn’t appear to more than a marginal departure.

    Teams have been forced to seek increased aero derived downforce because the rules have outlawed traction control, mass dampers, wider tyres, ground effects and a whole host of other innovations that make cars go quicker. The consequence is a proverbial ‘brick wall’ wake behind each car which wouldn’t be there if teams were allowed to generate more mechanical grip or via the underside of a chassis. This has made the art of defending easier – would anyone put Petrov’s defensive display in Abu Dhabi up there with Senna’s holding off of Mansell in Monaco (you can say that Monaco is less pre-disposed to overtaking but Alonso was following Petrov for way longer than Mansell was behind Senna)?

    I don’t like it but until the rules on grip generation change drastically in 2013, I don’t mind them trying this out. Especially when more Tilke-dromes keep appearing on the calendar.

  23. HounslowBusGarage
    16th March 2011, 11:44

    You know what’s going to happen don’t you?
    With a ‘line’ marked on the track where the DRS zone begins, the track operators will charge even more for seats and advertising in that area!

  24. What’s happening with Snetterton circuit?

  25. Happy birthday Rob!

  26. At the moment overtaking in F1 for two cars running the same strategy with two capable drivers is nigh on impossible due to air turbulance caused by the car in front, by counter acting this factor we will hopefully see SOME more overtaking, it won’t be a lot though.

    Lets wait and see, if no one likes it it will be dropped next year anyway.

    1. No not nigh on impossible 2010 have more over takes than in a very long time, people are quick to over look that fact.

  27. I completely agree with PeriSoft…

    It’s truly becoming like a video game, I have loved F1 for about 20 years, but recently I sometimes question why I still watch. Ok last season was great, but these technological gizmos are eating away the core of F1, this is supposed to be a sport for daredevils, not a game…

    Painted power zones, sprinklers, etc… this is not F1

  28. Oh and about the timing problem, I absolutely agree with Keith, I think this is an example of introducing something to spice up the show without the FIA actually thinking properly about the consequences it might bring in certain situations…

  29. BBT I didn’t say there wasn’t any over taking. There was lots yes ( for F1 ) but this was usually done when there was a great disparity of performance between the two cars.

    1. That’s called ‘motor racing’. If you don’t like it, there’s always Pop Idol.

  30. Not missing your point at all. And who said we didn’t like it.

    The teams and drivers have tried to come up with a solution to help aid overtaking and stop processions.

    It probably won’t make much difference anyway but you have to try things to progress.

    1. Why not try drivers lobbing hand grenades out the cockpit, or releasing small mammals onto the track when the race gets boring? Why not try having a figure 8 so there can be big crashes at the intersection? Why not try letting (as someone suggested sarcastically) the fans pick a car to slow down?

      Your argument is absurd – akin to, “Something must be done. This is something. Therefore, we must do it.”

      Maybe you try ‘things’ to progress. That doesn’t mean you try anything to progress.

  31. Why stop there? This is the web-interactive age. So have the fans DECIDE when the DRS can be activated, if we are going for Entertainment, instead of finding out after the fact. Set up a web-based interactive polling system by which a driver’s DRS will be released only when fans supply enough favor, by clicking his icon, and raised to an extent determined by total clicks. And if a driver gets enough total clicks, the FIA will enable a multi-stage on-board solid-fuel booster in his car.

  32. Not sure if anyone has mentioned the flipside to the unlapping situation and that is lapping a car. The lapping car is technically a full lap ahead rather than a second behind. So no DRS?

  33. I have been moaning in the past of the lack of overtakings in the modern F1 due to the increasing importance of aerodynamics in car development, but I’m against limiting the DRS use to certain areas in the track. This will cause in my opinion:

    – Drivers not to risk overtaking in other track areas, just in the “safe overtaking area”. Improving show?
    – Problems when designating the overtaking areas. Who will take that “fair” decission? Some cars might be better on straight speed, others have better traction, others brake later… Conflicts between teams…
    – TV coverage: TV cameras will end up (if the rule lasts) just pointing at the overtaking areas, boxes, no need for the rest of the track. And the small teams just shown on TV when overtaken or crashed, sponsors will love this…

    We’ll see if the rule finishes the seasson…

    1. With any luck, it won’t – and I’ll end up watching some of it. Until then, I’m going to stick to glancing at the results out of morbid curiosity (and hope that sanity will prevail).

  34. Woooohooooo! A mention on the daily roundup!

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