The DRS is killing F1

The DRS, or Drag Reduction System, is killing F1. Yes, I mean that stupid opening rear wing. The Singapore grand prix was a perfect example of everything that's wrong with it.

The DRS allows faster cars to overtake slower ones on the designated "DRS section" of the track. The reason for bringing the system in is that it allows more overtakes, and sure, it's done that. However, it's also teaching us that overtaking in itself doesn't make F1 any better. In fact, I think it's done the opposite.

First of all, I have to argue that it's not overtaking in itself that's exciting. If it was just overtakes, then you'd have to argue that lapping cars is exciting. It's the battle between two drivers that's exciting, and with the DRS, that's exactly what we're not seeing. Now, when drivers in faster cars are stuck behind slower ones, they don't need to make any effort to pass the drivers in front; just wait for the DRS zone and away you go. There's no battle involved, and no excitement whatsoever for the viewer.

Secondly, in this fetish for overtaking, few commentators seem to have considered is what the DRS actually does. In a nutshell:

The DRS more effectively sorts cars into an order of speed.

That's it. By making it much easier for faster cars to overtake slower ones, it effectively reduces the role that driver skill plays; a better driver in a slower car has no chance to defend himself against a poorer driver in a faster car when they go roaring past in the DRS zone. So it makes F1 even more about the car, and even less about the drivers. It also makes races more boring, as seen in Singapore, because the DRS zone allows faster cars to pretty much automatically make their way to the front of the race.

So by increasing overtaking, the DRS is actually making F1 more boring. Let's take an example. If, for instance, Sebastian Vettel spun out in Suzuka and then got a drive-through penalty, that would be great news for Jenson Button, who's still contending for the title. Right? Wrong. Vetel would use the DRS to easily pass all the slower cars in front of him, and while he might not catch up with the frontrunners, he'd finish nicely in the points. By giving such a massive advantage to the faster cars, the DRS actually makes it much less likely that we'll see races with interesting results. Last year's season finale at Abu Dhabi would never have unfolded the way it did with DRS, as Alonso would just have opened up the rear wing and blasted past Vitali Petrov. It's no longer possible for drivers in slower cars to create upsets by defending well against a driver in a faster car, because of the DRS.

The DRS is terrible and it needs to go. The number of overtakes in a race is not a reliable indicator of the quality of the race, any more than, say, the number of goals scored is an indicator of the quality of a hockey game. When overtakes are devalued, they become meaningless, and when the system as a whole has a deleterious effect on the world championship as a whole, it's a net loss. Get rid of it.