While it was hoped this year’s car could move forward with its own steam, Max Verstappen says early races have shown that F1 still needs DRS.
The first races of this year’s calendar showed the power of the DRS as Verstappen and Leclerc swapped P1s as the two used the drag reduction system to fight for the race victories.
He was so powerful at the Saudi Grand Prix that Red Bull team leader Christian Horner complained that “there was a game of cat and mouse between the riders where they had actually slowed down to the point that they accelerated to the corner. “
We quickly advanced two races to the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, a rain-affected race in which only DRS was enabled halfway, and there were complaints about lack of action and difficulty moving forward.
Verstappen had more of these two races later in Spain when his DRS failed during the grand prix, leaving him trapped behind George Russell’s Mercedes while getting angry at Red Bull for not being able to “make the fucking DRS work “.
The driver says the first races of this year show that Formula 1 and its new cars still need DRS to help create excitement.
“It simply came to our notice then [on the car] we are only driving on one train, ”said the reigning world champion.
“I think I proved really frustrating, so you need DRS right now with the cars.
“We can go a little easier, but once you’re back, I think the drag is a little smaller, like you don’t have that diversion effect like last year, for example.
“And then you still need a DRS to be able to get into curve 1.”
The good news for both Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Perez, who are both 15 points clear of the Drivers’ Championship, is that Chief Engineer Paul Monaghan believes they have solved the DRS problem that affected them in early season.
“Our DRS problem was self-inflicted if we’re honest,” the Briton told The Race in Monaco. “It simply came to our notice then.
“At the moment, it’s absolutely fine, but I think it would be nonsense to rest the laurels.
“It simply came to our notice then. He was competent to fix it, so so far so good.
“Baku has slightly different problems, opening speeds of 300 km / h, so it’s not really about the weight of the flap, it’s about lifting it against its own aerodynamic load.
“So I’m happy here and it worked, and there’s a sigh of relief.”
With Baku’s long straight line of more than 2.2 km, drivers reach a top speed of 340 km / h, with much more downforce in both the rear wing and the DRS.