If you watch a Formula 1 race, one term is guaranteed to come up on almost every lap: DRS.
But what is it actually? How does it work and why do Formula 1 cars need DRS in the first place? We make Formula 1 understandable for you, so here’s everything you need to know about the Drag Reduction System.
DRS stands for Drag Reduction System. It was introduced in 2011 to solve a huge problem in Formula 1: overtaking.
Surprisingly, this is not so easy.
Let me explain it to you a little more figuratively.
When an F1 car is driving, the air logically glides over the car.
The large rear wing on such a car is positioned steeply in the wind and thus ensures massive downforce (the car is pressed down onto the ground to gain more grip). This ensures that the car is extremely fast in corners.
On long gradients, however, the rear wing also generates enormous air resistance. A bit like a sail, which ensures that the car is slowed down. In addition, the rear wing produces the so-called “dirty air” (it ensures that the air behind it “swirls” and thus becomes “dirty”). A pursuing car loses grip in this air and cannot get close enough to overtake.
And this is exactly where the DRS comes into play: at the touch of a button, the driver folds part of the rear wing flat. This ensures that the air can now flow almost unhindered through the wing instead of bouncing against it. And this, in turn, reduces the air resistance abruptly, the car is slowed down less and “slips through the air more easily. This alone gives it a massive increase in speed – often between 10 and 12 km/h – without any additional engine power. As soon as the driver brakes or presses the button again, the wing closes again.
It’s as if you suddenly move from an upright position to a low position on the handlebars to give the wind less of an attack surface.
The system is not a permanent turbo, but is subject to strict rules:
Although DRS provides more action, there has been criticism since its introduction. Many fans and former drivers such as Juan Pablo Montoya think that it makes overtaking maneuvers look “artificial”.
The criticism goes both ways, namely that DRS makes overtaking too easy and sometimes simply doesn’t help at all.
Sometimes the effect of the unfolded rear wing is so strong that a rider easily passes before the braking zone. The “real” wheel-to-wheel duel is lost. And overtaking despite DRS becomes difficult when a so-called “DRS train” develops. In other words, when several cars in a row all have DRS. Because then the advantage is neutralized – nobody can overtake, everyone is stuck.
It is also exciting to know that in practice and qualifying, drivers are always allowed to use DRS in the zones, even if there is no car in front of them. It’s all about getting the absolute fastest lap time out of the car.
DRS understood? Then you are already a big step closer to really understanding the strategic side of Formula 1. Because behind seemingly simple overtaking maneuvers there is often much more tactics, timing and racing intelligence than it looks at first glance.
If terms such as undercut, dirty air or parc fermé are still flying around your ears at the next race, our Formula 1 lexicon is guaranteed to help you keep track.
Yes, Formula 1 is not the only series that relies on movable wings. The system is also important in the junior classes (F2 & F3).
In series such as IndyCar or Formula E, there is no DRS on the wing, but there is a "push-to-pass" button. This gives the driver more engine power (or electrical energy) for a short time instead of less drag. But the aim is the same: to make overtaking easier.
If the technology gets stuck and the wing no longer closes after the straight, it's extremely dangerous. The car no longer has any grip in the next corner. Race control then shows the driver the "fried egg flag". He has to go to the pits immediately to have the wing closed manually.
Clever drivers sometimes deliberately brake before the DRS measuring point to let the car behind them pass. Why? So that they are less than a second behind when they cross the measuring point and can immediately counterattack with DRS on the following straight.
