Skip to main content

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Recommended for you

Title-winning BTCC Peugeot and Harvey in an MG among Touring Car Rewind: North highlights

National
Title-winning BTCC Peugeot and Harvey in an MG among Touring Car Rewind: North highlights

MotoGP Barcelona test: Acosta fastest as rain curtails running early

MotoGP
Barcelona Official Testing
MotoGP Barcelona test: Acosta fastest as rain curtails running early

Why this year's Indy 500 isn't as straightforward to call as you might expect

Feature
IndyCar
110th Running of the Indianapolis 500
Why this year's Indy 500 isn't as straightforward to call as you might expect

Will Mercedes or McLaren land the next punch at F1's Canadian GP?

Formula 1
Canadian GP
Will Mercedes or McLaren land the next punch at F1's Canadian GP?

The mental challenge Evans takes on at Rally Japan

WRC
Rally Japan
The mental challenge Evans takes on at Rally Japan

Why the Catalan GP chaos may finally force MotoGP riders to unite

Feature
MotoGP
Catalan GP
Why the Catalan GP chaos may finally force MotoGP riders to unite

Why Ford 'loves the V8 idea' in F1 amid changing road car strategy

Formula 1
Why Ford 'loves the V8 idea' in F1 amid changing road car strategy

What we learned from MotoGP's wretched Catalan GP

Feature
MotoGP
What we learned from MotoGP's wretched Catalan GP

Brown: Good idea to keep DRS to begin with for 2022 F1 cars

McLaren boss Zak Brown has thrown his support behind plans to keep the DRS in Formula 1 next year, despite new regulations coming into play.

The 2022 Formula 1 car launch event on the Silverstone grid. Rear wing detail

All-new car rules will be introduced in the sport in 2022, the goal being to have closer racing and increase overtaking through simpler aerodynamics revolving around ground effect.

Although the DRS didn't feature on the full-scale model of a 2022 car revealed last month at Silverstone, F1 bosses have decided to retain it at least for one season, even though the plan is to eradicate it in the future.

Despite being optimistic that the new regulations will have the desired effect on racing, Brown believes the decision to keep the DRS is a "good idea" in case the cars don't handle as expected once they hit the track and start racing.

"I think from everything everyone has told me, both within my team and others, everyone thinks it [the new rules] will work," said Brown. "But I think until you get it on track, you don't know.

"So I think to keep DRS initially is a good idea, and then I think, much like the sprint race, let's get these race cars on the track and figure out: Has it worked exactly as prescribed? Do they need modification? Do they need DRS? Do we need it for a less or shorter period of time?

"Because I think just like the sprint race, all we're working through is data and drawings and visuals, and until we see it on the track, we don't know.

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A521, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A521, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

"Everyone thinks conceptually, what has been designed should work. But we won't know until we get it on the track," he added.

Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff acknowledges that the DRS might become irrelevant thanks to the new regulations, but believes it has contributed to making the show much better for the fans.

"I think the DRS was implemented because the cars were so efficient in terms of downforce, and so equal in terms of performance that you weren't really able to follow them," Wolff said.

"The DRS effect is actually something that is not now quite understood.

"I think it's an aerodynamic device, which I find quite attractive to the sport. But if you can follow easier in the future, it may make DRS obsolete. Today, it's a fantastic part of the show."

Previous article Tsunoda had to "calm down" after early F1 crashes
Next article Gasly waiting to "see what happens" at Red Bull as he seeks F1 future clarity

Top Comments

Latest news