With F1’s Middle Eastern mayhem over until the season finale, the world’s biggest traveling circus makes its way to the land down under. Ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, it is time to preview the race and make some predictions.,

Australian Grand Prix Notes

The Australian Grand Prix is held at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, at the southeastern tip of the country. This 3.28 miles (5.278 km) circuit features four DRS zones and hosts a race length of 58 laps. The race will start at 1 a.m. EST on Sunday, April 2nd.

The Mystery of The Fourth DRS Zone

Before the 2022 Australian Grand Prix, it was announced that organizers added a fourth DRS zone to the circut. It lasted all of one day, however, as a contingent led by Fernando Alonso successfully argued for its removal for safety reasons. While their argument remains unclear to this day, it drained the excitement of the race by introducing a radical fourth DRS zone.

Now, it appears that the organizers brought back the fourth DRS zone for this year’s race. Its reintroduction was news that went under the radar, with plenty of fans missing the announcement. The question remains on if Alonso or another driver will petition for its removal again once the weekend begins. One can hope that this radical change will finally get its chance, but the drivers are very fickle people.

Prediction: The Fourth DRS Zone remains

The Fight For Second In the Constructors Title

Two races into the season, Fernando Alonso is piloting Aston Martin’s rocket ship of a car to second place in the Constructer’s Championship. The Spanish icon is in the middle of a career renaissance after shockingly exiting Alpine at the end of last season. For the first time in a long time, however, Alonso matched up his team change perfectly with the development of a car. Alongside Alonso, his teammate Lance Stroll is in the early stages of what will almost certainly be a career-best season.

Aston Martin’s progression leaves a meteor-sized imprint on this season’s championship battle. Chaos across the paddock has risen from their success this season. Mercedes’s Team Principal Toto Wolff says the team has significant car changes in the works that will arrive soon. Meanwhile, new Ferrari Team Principal Fredric Vasseur is waging a war inside and outside Ferrari. In the past two weeks, reports surrounding staff overhauls, a quiet media war against the Italian media and Charles Leclerc potentially having a meeting with Ferrari Chairman John Elkann have flown across the internet. That, paired with a car that appears worse than last season, may send this season into an early tailspin for Ferrari.

All of these factors combine to create the perfect scenario for Aston Martin. Even then, only Alonso will consistently beat all four cars. Both Mercedes drivers showcased strong performances around this circuit last year, in a race that Charles Leclerc won. If all three teams can avoid a disastrous weekend, Stroll will likely lose out.

Prediction: Alonso finishes on the podium, but Stroll finishes behind the Mercedes and Ferraris

Oscar Piastri Returns Home

In the third race of his F1 career, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri will race in his home country. The former F2 and F3 champion’s start to 2023 can be described as less than ideal to this point. During the opening race of the season, an electrical failure ended his race before it could start. Last race in Jeddah, some first lap contact destroyed his front wing and ruined any chance of converting his ninth place from qualifying into points. It has now all been his fault though.

Ever since Winter Testing, McLaren continually admit that their current car is not the one they planned on racing. The reason the car is not performing is that it is an old spec car. McLaren’s decision to use an earlier stage of development car to divert resources to the fix is not paying dividends yet. Their pace is laborious and the car shows little signs of life. Backmarkers like Williams and AlphaTauri have shown considerably better pace than the legendary racing organization. Fans can wish upon a star for Piastri to earn points, but it likely won’t happen given the car’s current state. 

Prediction: Piastri misses out on a points finish

Potential Pit Lane Trickery

Despite the anti-climatic nature of the 2022 Australian Grand Prix, the ending of that race provided a unique and fascinating moment. Williams Racing’s Alex Albon secured a tenth-place finish by doing his lone tire change on the final lap. By on the final lap, that means driving his entire final lap, pulling into the pit lane, changing his tires and finishing the race in the pit lane. How does that work though?

The Albert Park Circuit is very unique in one specific way, its pit lane layout in relation to the finish line. On most tracks, the start-finish line is in the middle of the pit lane. However, in Australia, it is at the end of the pit lane. That distinction means that a lap is not complete until a driver drives all the way through pit lae. What Williams did last year, in short, was have Alex Albon drive “all 58 laps” on one pair of tires. Given that a tire change is mandated, however, Williams used a loophole in the rules that is specific to the Albert Park Circuit. Albon drove all 58 laps on a single set of hard tires. Then, with a safe gap between him and the next closest car, he pitted safely to change his tires. The race ended with Albon crossing the finish line to finish in the final points-scoring position.

It is a risky strategy, but it could pay massive dividends if drivers can manage their tires very well. After Williams’ brilliance last year, I would not be surprised if someone tries it again.

Prediction: Nobody will try a “0 stop” race

Need More?

What do you think?

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