F1 imposes DRS ban at Spa

[Pints]

Don't see another thread running, so here's the BBC link

Race director Charlie Whiting is worried its use on bends could increase the chances of a major crash.

[Munter]

It's not banned at Spa. It's only not allowed to be used through Eau Rouge (and the downhill towards it), during practice and qualifying. And that's only because sometimes it's active when drivers don't think it is. Seems a sensible thing to do given that you really don't want to be missing expected downforce through Eau Rouge.

[Teppic]

Misleading thread title. It is only banned at Eau Rouge. They are allowed to use it on the rest of the lap in qualifying, and the DRS zone in the race is after Eau Rouge anyway.

[R500POP]

All this moaning about not knowing if DRS is activated or not seams odd to me.

I can see the FIA saying it must be activated by a button that is held down to keep DRS active, rather than released once activated, that way the driver will know if his flap is open or closed. Or maybe a warning light on the steering wheel.

[Britcar David]

I still don't get it. Aren't they supposed to be the best drivers in the world? If so then allow use of the system whenever they want, even in the race. It'll be another tool for drivers to exploit, the better drivers will use it better and gain an advantage and it'll take alot of the perceived 'falseness' out of the current overtaking.

Or if the FIA don't think the drivers are good enough to handle it then ban it from all cars altogether. Most overtaking this year seems to have been down to tyre strategy and usage rather than DRS anyway.

[Munter]

I think some people are missing the point.

You activate DRS
You know DRS will deactivate when you use the brakes/push or release the button.
You brake/push or release the button
DRS doesn't actually deactivate when you believe it has (fault)
You believe you have more downforce than you actually do.
Proceed to fighting with car/changing pants when taking next corner.

Short of them stopping the car, getting out and having a look at the wing before the corner I'm not certain how people want the drivers to know what's going on.

[Fire99]

Britcar David said:

I still don't get it. Aren't they supposed to be the best drivers in the world? If so then allow use of the system whenever they want, even in the race. It'll be another tool for drivers to exploit, the better drivers will use it better and gain an advantage and it'll take alot of the perceived 'falseness' out of the current overtaking.

Sponsors more than likely don't want the drivers to take any 'unnecessary' risks.

Kinda makes you think of a Mountain Climber who is only allowed to climb Everest if it's not cold or raining..

[GreigM]

Munter said:

I think some people are missing the point.

You activate DRS
You know DRS will deactivate when you use the brakes/push or release the button.
You brake/push or release the button
DRS doesn't actually deactivate when you believe it has (fault)
You believe you have more downforce than you actually do.
Proceed to fighting with car/changing pants when taking next corner.

Short of them stopping the car, getting out and having a look at the wing before the corner I'm not certain how people want the drivers to know what's going on.

How is that different from any other system on the car failing? Wouldn't be hard to fit a warning light and I'm sure the pitlane already monitor it.

[Munter]

GreigM said:

Munter said:

I think some people are missing the point.

You activate DRS
You know DRS will deactivate when you use the brakes/push or release the button.
You brake/push or release the button
DRS doesn't actually deactivate when you believe it has (fault)
You believe you have more downforce than you actually do.
Proceed to fighting with car/changing pants when taking next corner.

Short of them stopping the car, getting out and having a look at the wing before the corner I'm not certain how people want the drivers to know what's going on.

How is that different from any other system on the car failing? Wouldn't be hard to fit a warning light and I'm sure the pitlane already monitor it.

It's not different. If the FIA believe the cars were likely to suffer another failure, caused by doing something you can't do during the race, that could cause a crash in Eau Rouge, I'm sure they would take an action to avoid that as well.

I really don't see this as a big deal that some people seem to.

[NISaxoVTR]

Grand Prix - The Nanny Years

[Streps]

It is because drivers have headed into corners thinking the DRS was not deployed when it fact it was.

They should just get rid of DRS altogether.

Edited by Streps on Tuesday 23 August 13:26

[R500POP]

Streps said:

It is because drivers have headed into corners thinking the DRS was not deployed when it fact it was.

They should just get rid of DRS altogether.

Edited by Streps on Tuesday 23 August 13:26

We know.

But if they had to hold the DRS button down to open the flap then the problem of them "not knowing" would go away.

[Munter]

R500POP said:

We know.

But if they had to hold the DRS button down to open the flap then the problem of them "not knowing" would go away.

Are you reading something else? Because to me this means the drivers have done "x" to disable DRS and it's still active. Be that taking finger off button, or using brakes, or whatever. It's still active when it shouldn't be.

bbc said:

The FIA has learned of times when drivers have headed into corners thinking the DRS was not deployed when it fact it was, causing them to battle to keep the car on the track.

[R500POP]

The only way DRS can be open is...

1. The driver presses the DRS button.

2. There is a fault with the DRS system, a ban on DRS through Eu Rouge will not stop this happening.

[Munter]

R500POP said:

The only way DRS can be open is...

1. The driver presses the DRS button.

2. There is a fault with the DRS system, a ban on DRS through Eu Rouge will not stop this happening.

Opening not the issue. Closing is. When does it close (opposed to when should it close)?

A)When the driver releases the button?
B)When it feels like it some time after the driver releases the button?

From the story I read it as B. Driver releases button, but DRS stays active for longer than drivers expect sometimes. Fail safe is on the brakes. But what about the non fail safe operations of DRS like Eau Rouge?

[R500POP]

Munter said:

Opening not the issue. Closing is. When does it close (opposed to when should it close)?

A)When the driver releases the button?
B)When it feels like it some time after the driver releases the button?

From the story I read it as B. Driver releases button, but DRS stays active for longer than drivers expect sometimes. Fail safe is on the brakes. But what about the non fail safe operations of DRS like Eau Rouge?

It closes the very second the driver asks it to, whether that be through a second press of the button, or by taking his finger/tumb off the button. It's a hydraulic system, like the gearchange, and reacts in fractions of a second.

[Munter]

R500POP said:

Munter said:

Opening not the issue. Closing is. When does it close (opposed to when should it close)?

A)When the driver releases the button?
B)When it feels like it some time after the driver releases the button?

From the story I read it as B. Driver releases button, but DRS stays active for longer than drivers expect sometimes. Fail safe is on the brakes. But what about the non fail safe operations of DRS like Eau Rouge?

It closes the very second the driver asks it to, whether that be through a second press of the button, or by taking his finger/tumb off the button. It's a hydraulic system, like the gearchange, and reacts in fractions of a second.

That's what it should do. Is it actually doing it? Because the story says it's not.