DRS Responsible for 45% of Passes in F1, Schumi leading overtaker

In a tally done by Mercedes GP, Michael Schumacher lead the 2011 Formula 1 season in passes with 116 overtakes just besting Sebastian Beumi who had 114. Rounding out the top ten were Kamui Kobayashi with 99, Jaime Alguersuari with 94, Pastor Maldonado with 91, Paul di Resta with 90, Sergio Perez with 87, Rubens Barrichello with 86, Jenson Button with 85 and Felipe Massa with 82. 

Most of the overtaking in Formula 1 this season was in the mid-field, which makes sense because that is often were a lot of the action is during the race. Schumacher is credited with so many passes often because of his poor qualifying performance that he would improve upon during the race. 

Mercedes GP recorded 1,486 overtakes in Formula 1 this season with the largest number of those at 85 took place at the Turkish Grand Prix. During the season, 150 passes were made during the first lap, and 124 overtakes were made due to a damaged car meaning that the vast majority of overtakes (1212) took place during throughout the rest of the race. 

Mercedes GP also found a large effect by the DRS. It accounted for about 45% of the passes that took place this season. 

While it is hard to find meaning in all of these statistics, there is evidence showing the effect that DRS is having on Formula 1. The system is the reason for nearly half of the overtaking in Formula 1, which is astounding when you consider that it is not in use every lap by the cars. It certainly looks like it is having a positive impact on the sport. 

Mercedes GP compiled its data by examining video, timing data and GPS, and the data will be used for its strategic planning.

Source: Auto Sport