John N
There will be four DRS zones for the Australian Grand Prix this weekend. The Melbourne circuit has undergone major re-profiling since the last Australian Grand Prix held at the venue in 2019, with a number of corners being made wider and faster in a bid to improve racing. The Albert Park track map on the official Formula 1 website has been updated to show that the circuit now features four DRS zones to aid overtaking. This will be the first time a Grand Prix has been held with four separate DRS activation points around the circuit.
As well as the three DRS zones present at the circuit the last time the race was held in 2019 – along the pit straight, on the run to turn three, and on the run to turn 11 – a fourth zone will be added on the newly-created straight approaching the fast chicane of turns nine and ten. There will be two DRS detection points around the circuit. The first is just after the re-profiled turn six at the start of sector two, which can be activated before and after the high-speed chicane at the start of sector three. The second DRS detection point comes before the turn 13 hairpins just before the final corner and will be activated along with the pit straight and after turn two on the run down to turn three.
This weekend will be the first time the Australian Grand Prix has been held since 2019. The 2020 event was canceled on the morning of Friday practice after McLaren withdrew from the race following two of their team members testing positive for Covid-19 during the early phase of the coronavirus pandemic. The race was set to return to the calendar towards the end of the 2021 season but was canceled due to logistical reasons because of the Australian government’s Covid restrictions.
