Formula 1 considering DRS ban in qualifying sessions. F1 considering DRS ban in qualifying.

Without DRS in Qualifying, Red Bull would be the most penalized
The recent Qualifying sessions – including the Shootout Sprint – before the summer break raised a topic that could lead to significant regulatory changes. In Hungary, Max Verstappen’s streak of consecutive pole positions was interrupted by Lewis Hamilton’s magical lap, which beat the Red Bull driver by three thousandths of a second. In Belgium, Maz Verstappen then took pole position twice at the 7.004-kilometre Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelotbut: in the Sprint Shootout without the use of DRS, he only edged out Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz by a few thousandths of a second.

Technical director Pierre Waché stated that Red Bull’s DRS has no magic to it and that when activated, it further reduces the already low resistance to forward motion of the RB19. In Budapest, the movable wing didn’t have such a significant impact because the straight on the Hungarian circuit is not that long (and the acceleration between Turn 1 and Turn 2 is even less). In Spa-Francorchamps, on the other hand, the ability to open the DRS on the Kemmel Straight during Friday’s qualifying gave Max Verstappen an additional boost, enabling him to outpace Charles Leclerc by eight tenths of a second, a vey big gap.

According to the German publication Auto Motor und Sport, Formula 1 is reportedly considering a regulatory change that would allow the use of DRS only during the race and not in Qualifying. If this scenario were to unfold, Red Bull would certainly be the most affected team, although in recent races, the engineers from Milton Keynes have decided to ‘sacrifice’ some DRS effect by further ‘loading’ the RB19 aerodynamically to preserve the tires during the race.

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