Fourth DRS zone removed from Albert Park circuit due to safety concerns
The FIA have amended the DRS layout for the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, removing the first activation zone that took drivers through the new “high-speed” section into turn nine.
Sergio Perez in the high-speed section of the Albert Park circuit during practice. (Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool)
Part of a raft of changes to the circuit for the 2022 grand prix, the DRS zone took drivers through a long sweeping lakeside left-hander before the tight left-right section.
The new speed taken into turn nine has seen drivers overshoot the corner onto the grass across Supercars and S5000 sessions this weekend.
It is unusual to have DRS in a section of a F1 track that is not straight, with the potential for cars to become unstable at the end of a DRS zone as the downforce level changes.
FIA Race Director Niels Wittich cited “safety reasons” in a short directive that announced the change.
