Last year, following the changes made to the track with the elimination of the old chicane in the second sector, the organizers of the Australian Grand Prix and the FIA planned to introduce a fourth DRS zone to facilitate overtaking.
For the first time in Formula 1 on a track there would have been four zones in which to exploit the mobile wing, as opposed to the three prior to the rebuilding of the track.
However, after the first free practice sessions, the Federation had chosen to review the plan, reducing the number of areas in which the mobile wing could be used to three. For safety reasons, in fact, it was decided to remove the third DRS area, precisely the one added between turns 8 and 9 following the removal of the chicane.
“For safety reasons, the DRS zones will be reduced to 3 for the remainder of the event. The bearing of DRS 1 will be moved to before curve 9, the activation of DRS 1 will be after curve 10, the bearing of DRS 2 will remain unchanged, while the following activation zones will be renumbered accordingly”, explained the director of Niels Wittich race last year.
After last season’s concerns, plans for this championship have changed again and the FIA has once again approved the use of the fourth DRS zone for this weekend’s appointment. This was anticipated by the organizers of the Australian Grand Prix last February, who confirmed the restoration of the additional area.
The detection point of this new area will be the same that was initially planned for 2022 and will be found at the exit of curve 6, acting as a reference for both the area between curves 9 and 10 and the following one between curves 10 and 11.
Yuki Tsunoda during the track walk on what will be the additional DRS zone for this weekend.
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
The second detection point has been moved and is now no longer located at what is now the entry to turn 12, but at the braking point for turn 13, the penultimate corner of the track. This will allow drivers to use DRS both on the main straight and between turns 2 and 3 as in previous years.
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