Earlier in the week, social media rumbled as F1 Series Followers around the world noticed a change in the track profile for this weekend’s Australian F1 race.
This weekend, there will be as many as four DRS areas on Melbourne’s Albert Park track, a place where you can take advantage of an openable rear wing for overtaking. Never before in the history of the F1 series have there been so many seats.
DRS has been a hot word since the beginning of the season, as Red Bull won the Saudi Arabian race, for example. Max Verstappen and Ferrari Charlec Leclerc gimmicked with the DRS areas.
Neither wanted to come to the main straight at the top, as then another driver would have toasted past with the help of an openable rear wing. The situation was special in the sense that the best solution in racing was seen to be braking on a straight line.
By the way, Melbourne’s F1 track has undergone the biggest changes since the track’s first F1 race in 1996. As many as seven bends have been modified. The two bends have been completely removed. Lap times are expected to be five seconds faster and average speeds are expected to increase by 15 kilometers per hour.
Traditionally, Albert Park has been one of the dullest tracks of the F1 season. In the number of passes, the track has mostly been at the stern end. F1 statistician Sean Kellyn by only one overtaking to the top spot has been seen in the track history, excluding start or depot stops.
Now, the reforms are expected to increase overtaking and make Melbourne’s competition more entertaining overall.
– Almost every track has been changed every year, but Melbourne has remained the same. Now it became tremendously faster at once. It is a welcome development, knowing that cars are clearly safer than last year, Sport’s F1 expert Jukka Mildh notes.
Pressure develops the path
Australia is running the F1 race after a three-year hiatus. The previous two times have been canceled due to a coronavirus pandemic.
According to Mildh, changes have had to be made in Melbourne as the number of street tracks on the F1 calendar increases. The latest streets on the calendar are coming from Miami and Las Vegas.
The first is due in May this year. The F1 race in the casino city was announced last week. Las Vegas is scheduled to run in November next year.
– New North American lines seem to be coming fast. Azerbaijan is also very fast in some places. In order to stay on the calendar, Melbourne also needs to be developed. One goal is to increase speed, Mildh estimates.
According to the expert, the fastest lines will get more out of the F1 cars that have changed this season.
– This will make the race harder and reduce queuing. More overtaking is wanted. At the same time, the driving experience of drivers is improved by increasing speeds. Drivers love to drive in fast corners, Mildh recalls.
Artificial speed control makes you think
So what’s going on this week’s race? What makes the DRS game interesting is that there are only two measurement points for the four DRS areas. In other words, the DRS is available for the first two areas if the driver at the first measuring point is less than one second behind. It will not be available to the above driver, even if the rear passes in the first DRS area. The same is true for the third and fourth DRS areas. Even before that, there is only one measuring point for who gets access to the rear wing that can be opened.
The expert expects to see a twist familiar from the beginning of the season between top teams Ferrari and Red Bull.
– Currently, Ferrari and Red Bull cars are very evenly spaced. So are the engines. Not to mention the drivers. I expect a similar tactical drive to continue, Mildh estimates.
The retractable rear wing was introduced to the F1 series in 2011. Its purpose has therefore been to make it easier for the person behind to overtake. At the same time, it has also caused a razor because it has been seen as an artificial way of editing race events.
Now in Australia almost half of the track is in the DRS area.
– For me, DRS is an artificial speed control. Therefore, its excessive use is not a good development. But the F1 is adjusted or better programmed in other ways to be optimal to fit different parts of the track. But if almost the entire lap is run with the wing open, something is wrong. The Australian GP is now showing up here as a test lab for the future, Mildh notes.
The F1 weekend started Finnish time early on Friday with rehearsals. In the first practice, Ferrari kept the fastest pace Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. From the beginning of the season he performed well on Alfa Romeo Valtteri Bottas was the tenth.
Leclerc was at the top in the other rehearsals and Verstappen at the Red Bull was second. Bottas was the seventh fastest in the second practice.
Australian gp free practice
1. free exercises
1) Carlos Sainz Spain, Ferrari 1.19,806,
2) Charles Leclerc Monaco, Ferrari behind 0.571
3) Sergio Perez Mexico, Red Bull -0.593,
4) Max Verstappen Netherlands, Red Bull -0.820
5) Lando Norris Britannia, McLaren -10.072,
6) Esteban Ocon France, Alpine -1,198,
7) Lewis Hamilton Britannia, Mercedes -1,221,
8) Daniel Ricciardo Australia, McLaren -1.349,
9) Fernando Alonso Spain, Alpine -1.423,
10) Valtteri Bottas Finland, Alfa Romeo -1.441,
11) Yuki Tsunoda Japan, AlphaTauri – 1,483,
12) George Russell Britannia, Mercedes -1,651,
13) Sebastian Vettel Germany, Aston Martin -1,855,
14) Pierre Gasly France, AlphaTauri -1,895,
15) Guanyu Zhou China, Alfa Romeo -2.015,
16) Lance Stroll Canada, Aston Martin -2,063,
17) Alexander Albon Thailand, Williams -2,948,
18) Kevin Magnussen Denmark, Haas -3,380,
19) Nicholas Latifi Canada, Williams -4,118,
20) Mick Schumacher Germany, Haas -4,543.
2. free exercises
1) Leclerc 1.18,978
2) Verstappen -0.245
3) Sainz -0.398
4) Alonso -0.559
5) Perez -0.680
6) Ocon -0.864
7) Bottas -1,077
8) Norris -1.122
9) Gasly -1,1,64
10) Ricciardo -1,225
11) Russell -1,236
12) Tsunoda -1.446
13) Hamilton -1,543
14) Stroll -1,633
15) Zhou -2,085
16) Magnussen -2,213
17) Albon -2,934
18) Schumacher -2,996
19) Latifi -3.329.
20) Vettel does not have time.
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