Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn has called into question the drag-reduction-system, which was introduced in 2011 to mixed reviews.
The system, known as DRS for short, enables a following car, within a second of the car ahead, to ‘open’ their rear-wing, thus reducing drag and increasing the cars straight-line top-speed.
The system has achieved its goal, by increasing overtaking to such an extent that the 2011 season has recorded the most overtakes of any F1 season, even with four races left – though Brawn believes much of that is down to the Pirelli tyres, rather than DRS, and has called for a review of it prior to 2012.
“It has been hard to judge its value because the DRS influence is not as big as the tyres,” Brawn said in Korea. “I think tyres have been a major element.
“DRS, as far as we are concerned, was introduced to stop the racing being processional and it hasn’t been because of the tyres, so I think at the end of the season with the FIA we should take a step back, look at where it hurt, look at where it helped, and see what we gained, and see if it has achieved all of its objectives.”
Brawn is keen to gauge the fans’ opinion as to whether they value the system and the overtakes it creates, which he believes are too ‘easy’.
“It is frustrating but we need to understand from the fans if they feel that overtaking with DRS is exciting to watch or not, or whether they preferred for overtaking to be more difficult, so we work around the tyres and other factors.
“So I think if we had kept the consistency of the Bridgestone tyres, which were very consistent in the past, then the DRS definitely would have been a very important requirement. It has been less critical because of the tyres.”
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