[S.J.M]

Ok, theres been some discussions (or a lot) about the regulations in F1 for 2011 such as KERs & DRS, and Spain was always thought of as being the acid test of them. Notorious for being dull with little overtaking action in F1, it was this weekend that we’ve gotten a clearer picture of things (or atleast, I believe)

[Stats taken from jamesallenonf1 blog]

Overtakes per Race Pre-Spain,

Australia, 30

Sepang, 70

China, 90

Turkey, 112

‘DRS’ overtakes:

Australia, 5 (17%)

Sepang, 17 (24%)

China, 27 (30%)

Turkey, 40 (36%)

Now, in Barcelona we saw that DRS wasnt giving as easy a time overtaking for drivers as in previous races. From this compared to Spain, so far inclined to think that the DRS isnt the main factor for lots of action this season, but mearly aids in it. Martin Brundle picked up on the lack of DRS action this weekend and summerised that he thinks its the Tyres that is leading to the large % of action, but its worth remembering the corner leading on the pitstraight isnt helpful to the following car and some cars we’re on their limiter by the end of the straight. But it looks like Pirelli have gotten their brief just about right.

So what next? Well its Monaco, where other then in Qualy, DRS will be less useful (I think Hamilton saying its around 300meters the zone) so will probably be a better test of Brundles tyre theory. Then Canada, with 2 DRS zones proposed to be used and with the Pirelli tyres being used, this could be interesting to see what happens given the circuits surface (and remembering last year)

What does everyone else think? is Brundle on the money with his thinking or way off? And what of the ‘illegal’ blowing retardation mapping.

[nik]

Best change would be to remove engine rev limits.

[Icthyes]

Excitement? 95% Pirelli. Overtaking? Well you’ve just put the stats up there, although it doesn’t define what a DRS overtake is or isn’t.

I think what we have consistently seen is that between drivers where the following car has been quicker but not by over a second, the DRS has been needed. The FIA has a lot to learn about its placing though.

As for the blown diffuser, Spain taught us how massive it is an advantage in qualifying. Its removal should shake things up quite a bit and maybe lead to the end of boring Q3s.

[George]

I wouldn’t expect a massive change in Monaco, remember last year Alonso could hardly pass a Virgin, but there should be some overtakes coming out of the tunnel with new tyres vs old (better acceleration, shorter braking).

I think I just answered the question about Brundle’s theory, it’s definitely the tyres creating not just the overtakes, but the differences in strategy that allow for them. Take for example last race, Vettel had to pit early to try and undercut Alonso to get track position, since with equal tyres he couldn’t get past. This meant that he always had to pit a bit earlier than the others due to the tyre drop off (thanks pirelli), which meant that he was always going to be in trouble come the end of the race.

That isn’t to say the DRS is useless, after all as well as the overtaking opportunity it allows the driver behind to catch up a couple of tenths, which means they can stay in the zone easier and perhaps overtake somewhere else.

I think the case for the blown diffuser being illegal is pretty weak, I cant see how something inside the engine can be classed as a ‘moveable aero device’, but then I’m not the one making the rules. As far as banning it is concerned, I dont really mind either way, I do love the sound they make though.

Oh and a final point on qualifying since Icthyes brought it up – the tyre allocation rule was brought in a few years ago, designed around brigestone tyres that lasted the whole race; surely with tyres lasting only about 1/3 as long the allocation should be higher? That would do away with the prospect of teams not qualifying in order to save tyres.

[S.J.M]

I think the teams will get more sets of tyres in Canada. They burned through them last year and the Pirellis last nowhere near as long in ‘normal’ circumstances to the Bridgestones.

[Zadak]

When Lewis closed up on Seb on the straight every lap it was jolly exciting, even though passing never happened because of it, it did add more spice than there would have been otherwise.

[Icthyes]

They have 6 sets of tyres, I don’t see more than 5 stops! And if they do, then that’s a challenge for the teams to work around.

But I do agree they should be given one more set of softs anyway.

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