DRS

[Paul Brameld]

I have been trying to understand a conundrum from watching the Chinese GP.
The DRS is meant to make overtaking easier at the end of a straight, however the odd thing I noted was that many of the cars were on their rev limiter well before the end of the straight.
SO deploy the DRS on the straight, gain more speed but then be restrained by the rev limiter. ????
I know the intention is to enable a car to get close enough to out-brake the car in front but the rev limiter seemed to hold the cars back and defeat the object.
I also know that the governing body is in development mode for this technology but it did seem strange to see cars driving for some seconds on the rev limiter.
I am sure there is a wealth of talent on this forum to shed some light on this issue.
Thoughts?
:huh::huh::huh:

 

[Paul W]

As I understand it the car is setup and geared mainly for qualifying - so that using DRS on the fastest straight will mean they are just short of redlining. This means they get the best acceleration in every gear. In the race however if they are overtaking another car and get a tow, in the other cars slipstream - while using DRS they will be accelerating faster which will in turn mean a higher top speed and hitting the rev limiter.
Incidentally I'm told that the steep red-bull upper part of the rear wing means when DRS is enabled they get a better drag reduction - meaning in quali where DRS is used everywhere the red-bulls are strong. On the McLaren which has a softer upper part their advantage is general straightline speed without DRS, so their advantage is everywhere the DRS isn't used - i.e. in the race.

 

[Terry Oxandale]

I wished I had more aeronautical science under my belt, but the term "stalling" the wing as a description I read, puzzles me. If anything, I would have thought this device would have pushed the stall angle away from a stall. So...is this reference of stall made because of the upper wing's much different AoA than the lower wing, and thus the two vastly different angles, in such close proximity, cause the stall?

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

With my limited knowledge stalling any wing creates drag. Using D.R.S does not stall the wing but gives it less downforce therefore reducing drag.

 

[Terry Oxandale]

Pete, that's my take as well. I get lazy at times and take the announcers word as gospel.