DRS In 2012: Yeah or Nay?

- By Holly McCluskey

If you happen to live in northern England, like I’m afraid I do, a quick glance outside will remind you that summer is slipping away and we are drifting not only towards winter but, most depressingly, the end of the Formula One season. There are seven races left in 2011, but many of those who aren’t Sebastian Vettel fans will already be focusing their hopes on 2012.

Planning for next season has already begun, and debates about potential rule changes are set to start firing up. One aspect of the regulation debate that spectators will be particularly keen to follow is the continuation or discontinuation of the use of DRS.

There has been no shortage of discussion around the issue since the opening race in Melbourne, and criticisms that the system allowed for “artificial” overtaking continued in the wake of the Belgian Grand Prix. McLaren Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh recently defended DRS by arguing that it was introduced at the fans’ demand: "FOTA did the most extensive fan survey and whether I believe it or want to believe it, the fans wanted more overtaking and if the fans tell you that is what they want, then I think you are fairly arrogant if you ignore it,” he said.

Whitmarsh certainly has a point. Spectators have long been yearning for more overtaking, and statistics released by Mercedes GP in July confirmed that 29% of overtakes in the first half of the season had come from the use of DRS; a considerable portion. The statistics reveal that there has been far more overtaking this year than in the previous two and so it would seem that FOTA have, technically, given the fans what they wanted.

The problem is, though, that fans don’t want just any kind of overtaking. The entire appeal of Formula One is that it offers, or should offer, the opportunity to watch the very best drivers in the world battling it out, duelling on track and risking it all for the victory. Pushing a magic button for an aerodynamic benefit can never compare to a stunning wheel-to-wheel battle through a series of corners, such as Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa’s heart-stopping fight through the final corners of the British Grand Prix earlier this year. These are memorable moments that set the fans’ hearts pounding, whereas the heavy use of DRS at the Turkish Grand Prix made the race’s 123 passing manoeuvres confusing and forgettable.

At Valencia this year there were twice as many passes as at Monaco, but raise your hand if you think it was a better race. DRS overtakes outnumbered non-DRS overtakes at Valencia, and it was the dullest race in years. I am inclined to agree with Jacques Villeneuve that: “All the other overtaking with the DRS, I’m just falling asleep… useless, boring, it’s not even racing.”

We shouldn’t criticise FOTA for attempting to make F1 more exciting, we should encourage them, but it would seem that this year they have taken things in the wrong direction with DRS. Perhaps what fans really want is a better quality of overtaking, rather than a higher quantity, and most would agree that the Pirelli tyres have proven fantastic in this respect. Maybe the real issue lies with the design of some of the more recent circuits, such as Valencia where the corners and walls are too tight for overtaking, or Yas Marina where huge run-off areas fail to punish driver errors. The real issue is that those in charge need to focus less on providing impressive circuit facilities and more on providing impressive circuits, full stop.