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Opinion
We’ve been starved of F1 action in Australia after COVID-19 suspended the 2020 Australian Grand Prix half way through the weekend and then 2021 was called off early.
While the F1 world kept spinning for one of the most dramatic seasons in memory, Australia has not had another taste of a sport that has been burgeoning in popularity until now.
The traditional season opener in Melbourne was always entertaining to start a season, in particular to see how the pecking order falls or the new cars perform or hold together. But the quality of the racing itself can often be a matter of getting a good start, staying out of trouble, and hoping a safety car doesn’t throw your pit stop strategy out the window.
Like other street circuits on the F1 calendar, Albert Park hasn’t necessarily been a bastion of overtaking in recent times. While it is not as narrow as some other street circuits (ahem Monaco), and there there are some lovely technical sections that do test the drivers.
There have only been a few turns like the great turn 1 that provide regular overtaking opportunities and it has traditionally been hard to hang to get past a leading car, even if you are driving well enough to put yourself in range of an overtake.
2022 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX FULL RACE SCHEDULE
Over the course of the COVID induced layoff, the track has now changed to improve some of these difficulties – the new design means that cars should be going to be a lot faster around the whole track, and many areas have been widened both to allow cars more space to set up and execute overtakes or to carry more speed through the corners.
Some other changes include a widening of the pit lane and increase in the pit speed limit, which will make taking a pit stop for new tyres less penalising, and in addition to a complete resurfacing of the track, which may effect tire degradation, we could potentially see some teams try for a 2 or even 3 stop strategy – which would add a further element of unpredictability and strategy for teams to unpack.
The DRS zones have been extended to be able to be open for more of the lap, which might prove to be the most polarising change over the weekend.
While the new regulations have undoubtedly been a good thing for people who want to see closer racing and overtaking opportunities, it might have changed how the Drag Reduction System plays a role in the race, and change how people might drive because of how powerful it is in certain areas of a track.
Over the first two races a feature has been the cat and mouse games between drivers trying to stay behind their opponents on certain parts of the track, which while highly entertaining, have been fairly divisive amongst hardcore fans whether its in the spirit of racing to keep intentionally trailing behind your opponent instead of staying in front and going as fast as you can.
It is clear that drivers thinking this element through, and getting the DRS right will be important for drivers to nail. This strategy proved race winning for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc did in Bahrain and then Red Bull’s Max Verstappen did in Saudi Arabia, and these two young rivals are set to resume whats been a fascinating battle so far.
The race is further shaping as an unusual one, due to the fall of Mercedes. Aside from a blip through Ferrari’s Vettel years (one of which, Mercedes made some unfortunate strategic errors), it has been Lewis Hamilton qualifying on pole and a Mercedes driving away from the pack over the past 10 years in Melbourne.
This team dominance, which can so often be a factor in F1, has been flipped on its head for the time being, the drastic changes to the regulations have completely reworked how the cars perform, in particular – how they can follow the other car and overtake due to changed aerodynamic factors.
The changes have also affected Mercedes’ powered ‘customer’ teams, such as Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren who’ve had a nightmare start to the season, and have not got-to-grips with the new regulations. Teams using Mercedes engines in their cars have not performed at all well in the Middle East swing and excitement around Ricciardo racing in front of a home crowd might have to be tempered.
As much as his bubbly personality might try to push through a difficult situation – on track he’s never been able to break through to the podium, in potentially one of the worst car’s he’s driven in his career, it may be another year of enjoying a week spent at home rather than enjoying the racing for Danny Ric.
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