F1: Ross Brawn makes idiotic suggestion for F1

Ross Brawn has done a lot of great things in F1 over his 35-year career, including his recent work on the new F1 car designs to make the racing better.

However, his latest suggestion as he exists F1 for retirement border on sheer lunacy.

“The one thing we know is fans, and we know this because we don’t like it, they don’t like the ‘go down the straight, pop the DRS, overtake, drive fast, pull a gap’ all of that,” he told Motorsport.com in an exclusive interview.

“I think in an ideal world DRS is used just to get on the back of someone, so you can really have a decent attack.”

Ross Brawn, usually a smart man, has made his most idiotic recommendation ever – to slow the leader so the trailing cars can catch up. No one will want to lead. It’s good he is retiring.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with this week’s Autosport magazine, Brawn said that F1 chiefs had begun thinking up how best active aero could be used.

“One of the big things about the 2026 car is whether we have active aerodynamics,” said Brawn. “I think that’s an efficiency step which is very appealing.

“It’s still got to be sorted to see how that can be done, and if it can be done safely and predictably. But, active aerodynamics, we semi have them at the moment with DRS, as DRS is active aerodynamics.

“But can you do something much more significant?

“If you have active aerodynamics, then of course you could affect the car in front. You could have a proximity [that] once you get within a certain degree, the car in front loses a little bit of downforce and you gain a little bit of downforce. There’s tricks you can play with that. It becomes an opportunity.

“I’m not saying we would do that, but it becomes an opportunity. So, the 2026 car is lessons learned from what we have now and I think we’ll incorporate some form of active aerodynamics.”

A better Solution

He did have one suggestion that warrants consideration:

At several tracks, overtaking moves becomes almost inevitable once a driver had got within the one-second range where they can activate their DRS.

“I think in an ideal world DRS is used just to get on the back of someone, so you can really have a decent attack.”

“I think we shouldn’t be afraid to reduce the DRS in places like Monza, because it does seem a bit ‘you get on the back of them, press the button, overtake.’ It’s a bit ritualistic, isn’t it?

“It’s not very impressive. And so we shouldn’t be afraid to reduce the use of DRS where it’s clearly proving to be too powerful.”