The co-directors of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association are at odds over how to address Jack Doohan's dramatic crash at Suzuka.
The Alpine rookie, fighting to secure his seat amid mounting pressure, admitted to keeping his DRS rear wing flap open while taking Turn 1 flat-out during practice, leading to a massive accident.
Newly appointed GPDA co-director Carlos Sainz argued for a safety overhaul last weekend in Japan. "Hopefully this accident shows that there is a need to have a system that switches off the DRS 50 or 100 metres before the braking zone so that the driver doesn't have a chance to make a mistake," he said.
His counterpart, seasoned GPDA co-director and Mercedes driver George Russell, sees it differently.
"Obviously what happened to Jack was a big accident, and it's very unfortunate," he told France's Auto Hebdo. "But it's one of those things that you see happen once, and everyone recognises that it's probably the only corner on the entire calendar where there's this problem. I don't think we need to do anything," Russell maintained.
"As drivers, you have responsibilities. We come flat out into the first corner, and clicking the button to turn off DRS is part of our job. We don't want it to be automated—we have to let the drivers decide. There are already too many gadgets helping us."
