2022 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, April 08 - 10

[MtthsMlw]

Tire selection


2019 Results
Qualifying


Race




2019 Pole Lap


2019 Race Highlights


Schedule and more information

[chrisc90]

Going to be a early morning for us in the UK!

[Stu]

Full reset on expected lap-times for this one due to the track changes, never previously a great circuit for racing (at least not in F1 cars), it will be interesting to see what differences the track changes and car changes make to that.

[chrisc90]

Is there a side by side comparison for the changes to the circuit?

Still not a fan of the double DRS zones. I mean if a driver overtakes in the first one, they then have DRS in clear air to pull a even bigger gap whilst the overtaken car is left with no DRS.

[Neuron]

Still not a fan of the double DRS zones. I mean if a driver overtakes in the first one, they then have DRS in clear air to pull a even bigger gap whilst the overtaken car is left with no DRS.

Yep, this is BS. This is excatly opposite to for what DRS has been deployed.

[Sevach]

Pirelli back to doing awkward tire choices, i fear this will force everyone into C3>C2 for the race.

[Juzh]

Pirelli back to doing awkward tire choices, i fear this will force everyone into C3>C2 for the race.

Yep, C5 basically a quali tyre and probably useless after that.

[SiLo]

Still not a fan of the double DRS zones. I mean if a driver overtakes in the first one, they then have DRS in clear air to pull a even bigger gap whilst the overtaken car is left with no DRS.

Yep, this is BS. This is excatly opposite to for what DRS has been deployed.

There should be a third DRS detection zone in the middle of the first corner IMO. This would stop this and potentially give us some great fights.

[Juzh]

As it stands minimum speed record in T11-12 is 263 km/h by Bottas in 2019 Q3 session. Next best is 262 km/h by Verstappen from 2018 Q3 session. Anyone thinks it can be beaten this year? I say it's a long shot but maybe not completely impossible. Realistically only ferrari has any chance of pulling it off if they continue with their high downforce setup but it's also a much faster track now so it seems likely they'll go with something less extreme.
C5s will definitely be a big help anyway.

[JPower]

Am I wrong in assuming an aero efficient car like the RB18 to have the advantage given how much this track has been opened up or does it still favor cars that generate high downforce(not that Red Bull can't)?

[soco3594]

Looking forward to seeing the new cars on home soil after a 2 year absence! Also keen to see how the track layout changes go - Turn 9/10 in particular was always painful to watch in the past

[dialtone]

Am I wrong in assuming an aero efficient car like the RB18 to have the advantage given how much this track has been opened up or does it still favor cars that generate high downforce(not that Red Bull can't)?

Even with the changes, this track is a lot more like Bahrain than Jeddah. A few slow corners and then a lot of fast ones.

In 2019, approx numbers:
* T1 is 180kmh
* T3/4 are 100kmh/170kmh
* T6 is 160kmh
* T13 is 150kmh
* T15 is 90kmh

Here's telemetry of HAM (pole), VET (3rd) and VER (4th):


This is a fast track for sure after the changes, but traction will matter more than in Jeddah. And all of that back side from T6 to T11 without DRS will put a cap on speed differences between cars I think, even in Jeddah the straight to T13 without DRS doesn't have much difference between Ferrari and RedBull with S1 speeds of 287kmh and 290kmh respectively.

[mkay]

Am I wrong in assuming an aero efficient car like the RB18 to have the advantage given how much this track has been opened up or does it still favor cars that generate high downforce(not that Red Bull can't)?

Even with the changes, this track is a lot more like Bahrain than Jeddah. A few slow corners and then a lot of fast ones.

This is a fast track for sure after the changes, but traction will matter more than in Jeddah. And all of that back side from T6 to T11 without DRS will put a cap on speed differences between cars I think, even in Jeddah the straight to T13 without DRS doesn't have much difference between Ferrari and RedBull with S1 speeds of 287kmh and 290kmh respectively.

Melbourne is far less rear limited than Bahrain though. I'd say it's in between Jeddah and Melbourne.

[MtthsMlw]

The track map has been updated, there are now four DRS zones.

[MV8]

The track map has been updated, there are now four DRS zones.

And then they want to delete DRS when they bet all to this system lmao.