[Rules] DRS: Is it time for it to go?

[Taxi645]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Oooo, that’s an interesting idea.

It’s a sticky plaster on a band aid, but I like it.

Yes, that's how I view it as well. For now it's a necessary evil with high downforce cars. Probably with the 2026 regulations with the active aero in the corners to give the following car more downforce in the very place they currently have a disadvantage, namely the corners, DRS can be abandoned. Till that time this would be an easy to implement solution for the longer straights to get the following car closer earlier on the straight so natural slipstreaming can do it's thing rather than the "passflaps" with the undefendable 30kph differences we have now.

If you would plot out the speed traces the quite different impact of the change becomes more tangible:

Currently (note the high difference in end speed):



As proposed:


As you can see, it aids the following car in getting closer again much sooner after the corner, but the actual overtaking is with a normal slipstreaming difference. One could call it a proximity aid rather than the overtaking aid that DRS is now. The length of the DRS zone would be tuned that when it closes the following car would be about 10-15m behind and would need the rest of the straight and the natural slipstream effect to try an overtaken (how it always was before high downforce).