Marko backs Brawn over DRS axe

Red Bull is backing calls for F1 to rid itself of the controversial ’DRS’ overtaking solution.

For the past several years, in a bid to boost the spectacle of the sport, F1 cars have been fitted with a moveable rear wing flap that helps a chasing driver to execute a successful overtaking move.

But as he arrived as formula one’s new sporting director recently, Ross Brawn indicated that the drag reduction system - DRS - could soon go.

"Everyone knows it’s artificial," he said. "We need to find purer solutions."

Now, Red Bull official Dr Helmut Marko backs Brawn in arguing that artificial overtaking has not proved to be the answer for the F1 ’show’.

"With DRS, in a two-man fight, the front man is helpless," he told Auto Motor und Sport. "It’s not real overtaking."

Some, however, are worried that with the radical technical rule changes this year, the shorter braking distances could mean real overtaking becomes even rarer.

Marko doesn’t agree.

"Extreme braking is one of the most crucial abilities of the top drivers. When you look back in the history of formula one like Prost and Senna, it was often the race-defining moment," he said.