Preventing DRS Disasters: Lessons from the Doohan Incident
Apr.6 - New Grand Prix Drivers' Association director Carlos Sainz is calling for changes to the DRS systems in Formula 1 in the name of safety.
Alpine's Jack Doohan admits he deliberately left his DRS rear-wing flap wide open as he sped flat-out at 300kph into turn 1 at Suzuka in practice - result in an almighty crash.
"Honestly, after trying to do that, I just want to leave it in the past and move on," said the bruised rookie Australian.
According to Sainz, however, the way DRS works in Formula 1 should not give the drivers the freedom to leave the flap open into treacherous corners like that.
"In any other era of Formula 1, Jack would not have been able to get back behind the wheel the next day after an accident like that," said the Spaniard.
"If we are going to make cars as fast as they are now, we need to improve on safety as well. Because you can also do what Jack did in Shanghai at turn 1 or turn 9 in Australia.
"We have too many corners like this where the driver has to close the DRS himself. Hopefully this accident shows that there is a need to have a system that switches off the DRS 50 or 100 metres before the braking zone so that the driver doesn't have a chance to make a mistake," Sainz added.
Meanwhile, Sainz freely admits that he is still adapting to his new cockpit, having been forced out of Ferrari by Lewis Hamilton.
"I'm still driving the car like a Williams should be driven, rather than how I'd like to drive a Formula 1 car," the 30-year-old insists.
Team boss James Vowles admits: "We have realised that Carlos has a very specific driving style from Ferrari.
"I can assure you that there is no difference between the cars of the two Williams drivers," he added. "And I very much doubt that Carlos will need more than five races to fully adapt to our car."
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''a system that switches off the DRS 50 or 100 metres before the braking zone''
- If such a thing, i.e., automatic deactivation without brake application & massive engine braking were practically possible, it would've been done in 2011 already or certainly within the first half of the 2010s, so Carlos should be careful what he suggests or wishes for & think through carefully before suggesting anything about something he doesn't really have any better idea about.
Long story short, easier said than done as all this time of DRS existence shows, not to mention DRS will be gone altogether after this season anyway, so pointless to even try something this close to its permanent end anymore.
Btw, Jack didn't exactly have a similar moment at Shanghai's T1 or Albert Park's T9 nor has anyone else had over the years.
The only circuit sections where DRS has been permanently unavailable ever since its introduction are Monaco's tunnel section & Spa's straight leading into Eau Rouge.
On the other hand, DRS was activatable through Blanchimont, 130R, & Abbey in practice & qualifying sessions in its first two years as well as Abbey in 2018, & the same with Hockenheim's T1 in 2012 & 2018, for that matter, & even Hungaroring's T4 was attemptable in the first two years when practice, qualifying, & test sessions had unrestricted use.
Brooklands, Stowe, & La Caixa (Montmelo T10) are also corners with a somewhat similarly angled entry to Suzuka's & Shanghai's respective T1s as well as Albert Park's T9, & the same with Yas Marina's T9 or Marsa by its name.
DRS just works in a way that allows automatic deactivation only via brake application & massive lifting, so nothing to do about this nor would the inconvenience of trying to do anything worth it this late anymore.
Tmi for me im afraid
I know, but getting my point with a considerably shorter sentence was difficult.
Yes Jere, TMI to make your point. A well made point but needed to be shorter.
I am not sure that he did deliberately leave it open, because if he did why would he radio what happened , he would have known it was from the DRS.
I think he did forget to close it and didn't want to admit that mistake with the pressure he is under with Calapinto waiting in the wings.
He partly seemed to admit to trying his luck because of simulator, but simply forgetting to deactivate in time for the turning point is indeed most likely the cause.
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