If This Major F1 Rule Change Is Implemented It Could Shake Up Red Bull’s Dominance

Posted on August 8, 2023 | by Charley Williams Hmm, we wonder why such a thing would be brought in (sense the sarcasm!), but F1 is reportedly planning to restrict the use of DRS during qualifying sessions and only allow it during the race itself. Coincidentally enough, this type of rule change would hurt Red Bull the most.  According to a report by the German publication Auto Motor und Sport (AMuS), Formula 1 is considering only allowing DRS in the race and no longer in qualifying – though the report does not state whether this would be an imminent rule change or something to apply in the future. Red Bull’s DRS advantage has been incredible this season, with their straight-line speed allowing Max Verstappen to breeze past his ‘rivals’ in every single race. But data gathered by AMuS at the Belgian GP revealed just how big the margin of Red Bull’s top speed advantage was. With Verstappen clocking an incredible 340.8km/h and Sergio Perez with a 338.8km/h through the DRS zones, they were head and shoulders above their competitors, as Lewis Hamilton passed through the same point at only 333km/h. This was despite Lewis being able to carry a higher entry speed through Eau Rouge than both Red Bull drivers. The DRS effect plays a huge part to play in Red Bull’s ability to top the timesheets each week, especially when visiting a track with three DRS zones or when the sections are extra long. For example, Max Verstappen lost the battle for pole position in Hungary – and while Lewis questioned, “They don’t have the DRS advantage that they used to have all of a sudden. Where did that go?”, the answer could simply lie in the fact that the Hungaroring has only two (relatively short) DRS passages. Would only using DRS during the race be a good change to F1?