For those who weren’t around back then: The 2009 aero regs introduced multi-element front wings. These new wings allowed for significantly more downforce allowing for cars to handle more power before losing grip. However, when an attacker got within a second or two of someone they’d start to lose all that new grip and power due to dirty air. This was a tremendous disadvantage to an attacker to the point where faster (on paper) cars would just get stuck behind slower ones.
Two years later in 2011, DRS was introduced to “promote passing”. It didn’t directly reduce the dirty air, but it gave enough of an advantage to an attacker to offset the disadvantage of dirty air. This was pretty controversial initially with some calling it “push to pass”, but over time we have mostly either become used to it or it is the only thing we’ve known.
The new 2021 aero regulations have been very successful in cleaning up dirty air. The disadvantage to attacking has been significantly reduced as they can get much closer before losing all that grip. Rather than reduce the advantage of DRS to compensate, the FIA has been adding in additional DRS zones. They have now reduced the advantage to slower cars, while simultaneously increasing the advantage to faster cars. This is just exacerbating the already existing performance gaps between teams and I’m pretty sure we all want the grid to be more competitive.
In my opinion, this is causing the grid to spread out and settle into position too early on into races. The remainder/end of races are fairly boring unless something chaotic happens like weather or a safety car. Desert race with long straights? :yawn: DRS was a quick and easy solution, but I think the FIA should be reducing DRS zones at a minimum, if not just remove DRS all-together.
tldr; DRS was a bandaid. The FIA should also reduce/remove the bandaid now that they’ve reduced dirty air.
In principal I agree with your point, but I’m sceptical, it will work the way we wish, since there are more things connected to that, when it comes to car design and setup.
First off: The 2023 cars cause more dirty air than the 2022 runners. And I do remember a few races at the beginning of 2023 where this was clearly visible. The FIA tried adding more DRS zones to remedy this, but it’s way imbalanced. At some places it doesn’t make any difference, in others it’s just “Push to Pass”, which as a motorsports fan is frustrating.
But it must be even more frustrating for the teams. The designs and setups for their cars are always trade-offs and since DRS is part of the formula, it is part of the trade-off (Look at what McLaren was trying to do in Spa, or back in F-Duct days in Monza). Before I write a whole essay on it, let me showcase one of the dependencies: Powertrains and gearboxes are fixed until 2025. If you’d get rid of DRS in say 2024, those who made the trade-off to favor traction over high-speed will suffer and will only be able to pass if they sacrifice their Aero downforce. Or they’ll keep their grip levels and just not be able to pass on track without a huge tire delta. In other words: DRS gives the designers one more degree of freedom to arrive at their concept. Without it, I fear that car concepts will merge even more, than they do now, giving aero even more of a weight and due to even less difference, racing itself might suffer. This is only one example and holds true even when changing it at the same time as the drivetrain. So it’s a pretty delicate thing to balance, when taking away just one aspect.