Bottas: Four DRS zones could make F1 Australian GP ‘tactically interesting’

Two years after COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the race weekend just hours before practice was due to begin, the F1 paddock has returned to Melbourne for the third round of the 2022 season.

The layout of the Albert Park track has been tweaked in a bid to improve overtaking opportunities and create a better spectacle after criticism from drivers about the lack of action in previous races.

But the FIA has also opted to put four DRS zones in place for this weekend, marking a first in F1. While there are still only two detection points, the DRS zones will run on the main straight, from Turn 2 to Turn 3, through the kink between Turns 8 and 9, and from Turn 10 to Turn 11.

DRS proved key in the fight for victory in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, with the latter featuring a cat-and-mouse battle between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen as they tried to deliberately avoid being ahead at a detection point.

Asked by Autosport/Motorsport.com about the decision to have four DRS zones in Melbourne, Bottas felt there would be a degree of gamesmanship from drivers to ensure they kept an advantage.

“I think it’s going to make the race tactically quite interesting,” Bottas said.

“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.

Track overview

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

“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.”

Bottas’s Alfa Romeo team-mate Zhou Guanyu said he thought there would be “a lot of things to play around with”, particularly out of the fast