Red Bull wants a clear rule for the DRS under yellow flag

In Valencia, Michael Schumacher’s first podium since his return to competition in 2010 hung by a thread for a long time as the seven-time world champion was under investigation by the stewards for keeping his Drag Reduction System (DRS) open under yellow flag conditions.

If it has been proven that the German indeed had his DRS open, he was not deprived of his 155th podium in Formula One, the first under Mercedes colors, thanks to a loophole in the regulations: « The panel of stewards noted that the driver significantly slowed down before reaching the area where a double yellow flag was waved and did not deem it necessary to punish Michael for having the DRS open, » explains Charlie Whiting, race director and FIA safety delegate, in the columns of Auto Motor und Sport. « There is no rule specifying that the movable rear wing must remain open or closed when the yellow flags are waved. Whether the driver slowed down or not is the decisive element. And, comparing with his sector time on the previous lap, it emerged that Schumacher had reduced speed. »

Therein lies the distinction with the penalty imposed on Sebastian Vettel in Spain where, in a similar situation, the Red Bull driver had been caught by the patrol with the DRS open under yellow flag conditions, before being handed a drive-through penalty for not having sufficiently reduced his speed in the first sector.

Interviewed on the Austrian channel Servus TV, Christian Horner, director of the Red Bull team, still does not understand the FIA’s position: There was a meeting where it was said that DRS and KERS could not be used under a yellow flag. For this reason, we asked Mark not to activate his DRS, and so I was surprised that Michael did. For his part, Peter Sauber admits that from past experience, we know that the FIA makes different decisions from time to time. Many, including the Hamburger Morgenpost, are wondering if the fact that this was Michael Schumacher’s first podium since his return and the presence of Jean Todt, FIA president and a friend of the German and Ross Brawn, in Valencia, might explain the FIA’s leniency.

Be that as it may, Christian Horner believes it is important for the teams that we clarify the situation before Silverstone. The use of DRS under yellow flag conditions is indeed an absurdity because the rules applied in such conditions completely contravene the purpose of DRS, which is intended to assist overtaking by providing drivers with a better top speed, while drivers are precisely prohibited from overtaking and are required to slow down in the affected sectors. The absence of a rule prohibiting the use of DRS under yellow flags only fuels controversy, and clarifying the rule can only be beneficial for the image of the sport and the credibility of the results.