The Albert Park circuit has undergone some modifications for the 2022 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix in order to create more overtaking opportunities in the race.
The old Turns 9 and 10 have been changed from a slow chicane to fast linked ones allowing for an additional DRS zone to be added before what was Turn 11. The track has also been widened to prevent us from seeing what used to often happen. in Melbourne, where drivers were unable to pass their rivals.
A day before getting into the car, Kevin Magnussen explained that it was positive that the event organization had tried to improve the situation, but he wondered if they had not gone too far: “The first thing I thought when I saw the new layout was that some changes were a little exaggerated.”
“For example, the removal of Turns 9 and 10 were not necessary in my opinion,” the Dane told a media outlet including Motorsport.com. “But they’ve done their best to put on a race-enhancing show, so it’s a good thing, we’ll see what happens on Sunday.”
According to Haas, you have to be cautious in these cases so as not to go a step further by creating more overtaking opportunities: “You always have to find a balance, on some circuits it’s good, but you also need possibilities to defend yourself”.
“If you can’t defend and you get passed if you’re even slightly slow, that’s not positive either, it’s about that balance,” the Dane continued.
On whether there will be more action on tarmac on Sunday, Magnussen insisted: “I think this will be a bit better, but I don’t expect overtaking at Turn 9, it could be, but we’ll be busier trying to control the car for the turn. more closed, which has been done for that”.
“The cars will feel a bit ‘loose’ there, we’ll see. In Jeddah there were more runs, it’s easier to follow the car in front, and I think even without the changes here we would have seen more overtaking,” said the driver. 29 years.
On the other hand, Valtteri Bottas hopes to see more struggles with the fourth DRS zone in Australia, and welcomes the introduction of this section in Albert Park: “I think it will make the race more interesting from a tactical point of view” .
“When you face another driver you have to make sure you have an advantage, especially if the fight is at the end of the race, you will have to fine-tune everything,” said the Alfa Romeo driver at a Gran Turismo 7 event attended by Motorsport .com. “This makes it a bit different than before, but there will be overtaking opportunities, so four DRS zones are fine.”
Unlike Kevin Magnussen, the Finn thinks there will be a lot of action from the moment the DRS opens: “As they have removed the chicane, the back straight is much longer now and I think we could see some passes on the fast next corner, as we will have quite high speeds there.
“The changes that have been made are quite positive, it’s a bit quicker and more fluid, so there will be more options to overtake,” Bottas said. “Now, thanks to the new generation of Formula 1 cars, we can follow each other more closely, so it’s going to be a good race.”
“I’m sure we’ll see more wheel-to-wheel action than in previous editions held here,” said the man from the Hinwil team.
