The British GP had an extra DRS this time, one that included the rapid Abbey and Farm corners. The extra DRS was added in order to make the race a little more interesting, but instead the drivers found it a little too difficult to cope with the fast turns.
Grosjean and Haas didn’t quite enjoy the fast corners, as Grosjean crashed into the barriers during Free Practice.
During raceday, Ericsson lost control of his car on Turn 1, ultimately bowing out of the race because of the DRS on turn 1. However, he admitted that he didn’t quite close his DRS soon enough and it was his own mistake that led to the crash.
Charlie Whiting too conceded that using the DRS was a driver choice and hence the onus is on the driver to determine whether or not to use it.
“I think the incidents where drivers lost control through Turn 1 because they had their DRS open through Turn 1 is a driver choice, just like any other choice you make on a car,” explained Whiting.
“It’s like any car that is challenging to drivers, and sometimes they try to do it flat when it’s not really flat, and they spin.
“It’s the same thing, it’s their choice. If they thought they could do it, they can try it. It’s not a requirement to do it. It’s like any other choice that teams and drivers make.” he added.
Whiting however conceded that the DRS on Turn 1 didn’t quite help overtaking at Silverstone.
“I don’t think it actually helped
“The idea was that drivers might get a little bit closer than they would have done otherwise and therefore be in a better position to attack on the straights between Turns 5 and 6.” Whiting said.
Whiting was asked if drivers should be allowed to determine when to use the DRS and Whiting came back with a ‘negative’ reply.
“I don’t think there’s any point because all you’re doing is creating faster lap times,” he said.
“The whole principle of DRS was to help overtaking and to allow them to use it in the places you can use it in the race seems entirely logical to me. I wouldn’t be in favour of going back.” he concluded.
