Button’s F1 wish denied by Kimi Antonelli in Abu Dhabi

Michelle Foster
Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Kimi Antonelli

Back in 2011, Formula 1 introduced the Drag Reduction System, DRS, an overtaking aid that allowed a driver to reduce the aerodynamic drag on the rear wing to increase the car’s top speed.

It was polarising, with history buffs calling it artificial while others celebrated more exciting racing. But at the weekend, the final press of the DRS button was pushed in a race.

Alas DRS’s final moment in F1 did not result in an overtake

The introduction of DRS gave a major boost to overtaking, allowing a driver in the slipstream to gain up to 10–12 km/h simply by opening the movable rear wing.

Back in 2011, 2009 World Champion Jenson Button was the first to push, well, the button, doing so at the 2011 Spanish Grand Prix.

Earlier this year, with F1 set to say goodbye to DRS, the now Sky pundit said he wished to the last driver to activate DRS.

“Just put me in a car so I can be the last person to push the DRS button as well. I feel like it should come full circle,” Button said on the Sky F1 Show.

Button didn’t get his wish, that honour going to Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli.

Chasing down Yuki Tsunoda at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Antonelli activated the rear wing flap as he closed in on the Red Bull driver on the final lap.

Alas, DRS’s final hurrah did not result in an overtake with Antonelli crossing the line 0.6s down on Fsunoda.

In 2026, DRS will be replaced by a new system for overtaking called Manual Override Mode (MOM).

Explaining MOM, FIA’s single seater technical director Jan Monchaux said: “[When] you enter the straight and the car is fairly close to the other to help the overtaking – since both cars will have rear wing open and front wing flap open – we are going to allow the car behind to deploy more electrical energy for a given portion of time during that lap.

“Right now with the DRS you are behind a car, within a second, that ticks a box and you are allowed to open your DRS in a straight line. This will not be the case anymore. However, the logic will be the same: I’m close enough to another car, I am given an extra amount of energy for that one lap, which I can deploy any way I want.

“The extra amount of energy is defined and that will give that boost of energy to eventually give the following car a chance to overtake by the end of the straight.”

Read next: Ferrari and Mercedes offer us our first glimpse of F1 in 2026…

Jenson Button Kimi Antonelli

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