F1 | Australian GP | Zhou and Bottas say four DRS zones make for an "interesting" race at Albert Park
Two detection spots and four DRS zones in the new Albert Park, the circuit that will be making its return to the F1 championship in 2022 since not racing in 2019.
Among the circumstances of which the Saudi Arabian GP was held on the second date of the F1 2022 calendar, there was an amazing battle for the lead in the final laps of the race when Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc exchanged the top spot on the grid with a spectacular racing show and some DRS highlights.
Haas driver Kevin Magnussen talked with the media about this topic and he stated F1 has to find a balance with the overtaking authenticity and the likes of the drag reduction system.
"They need to kind of collect some data on how overtaking is on different tracks with these new cars, then they can do some adjustments for the following season. shortening or lengthening the DRS zones or removing some zones or whatever. I think that too easy overtaking is also bad. It's a balance."
However, it was confirmed earlier in the week that, after the modifications made to improve the racing in the circuit of Albert Park, there will be four DRS zones and two detection zones throughout the 5.027 km circuit waiting for this year's race.
Oficialmente la FIA publica el mapa oficial para este fin de semana, ¡y se han confirmado cuatro zonas de DRS! ✅ #F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/CHNBY1DJ4y
— MotorLat #AusGP 🇦🇺 (@motorlat) April 5, 2022
When asked by motorsport.com about this, Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas admits he expected this to “make the race tactically quite interesting,"
"When you're fighting with other drivers, you need to make sure that you will have the upper-hand when it really comes to the overtake itself, and especially if it's a battle towards the end of the race, you need to time things right.
"It just makes it different in a way, and there will be opportunities to overtake. So I'm fine with four zones, it's fine," he concluded.
Teammate Guanyu Zhou agreed that the third round of the F1 championship would be interesting as it would provide "a lot of things to play around with,"
"Managing your battery is also a key, you don't want to overuse that, end up attacking and not making the move stick,"
"But I think with the new layout, especially with high-speed, it's not helping, but with our new car generation, it's easier to follow. That makes the racing maybe more tight or compact. But on the other hand, DRS is definitely helping a lot," Zhou said.
