It has been a long-awaited move for the surface of the Albert GP circuit to be renewed, along with changes to corner profiles. Apart from these, there are a few more changes to the track ahead of the new season.
Written By Ian Bruce, Edited By Umut Yelbaşı
The pit lane has already been widened by 2 metres, with the pit wall now directly at the trackside, with the grass being removed. This could mean the raising of the current pit lane speed limit.
The track itself will be altered, with the biggest change happening at Turns 9 and 10. What was, in the past, a hard braking zone, will now become a fast, sweeping corner to take us onto the North Western side of the lake. This will up the speed dramatically into turns 11 and 12, and will, in turn, increase the speed into turn 13.
Turn 13 is also being changed, with added camber through the corner, with a wider entry. The hope from all these changes is to increase overtaking. With the cars travelling faster, there will be more instability in the braking zone of Turn 13 and with it now being wider, so there should be more opportunity for a pass to be made.
Work on these changes will start next week and it is hoped that they will be completed by July.
The last phase of changes will be a complete resurfacing of the circuit with a more aggressive asphalt, but this will not take place until after the race in November.
These are the first major changes to the Albert Park circuit since its debut on the F1 calendar in 1995. Teams are said to be pleased with these changes due to the lack of overtaking opportunities that arise at the circuit. The Australian GP is set to be held at Albert Park until 2025 and it has been since the renewal of that contract that planning for these changes has gained pace.
It will remain to see if these changes have any impact on the racing itself, but I’m sure that Albert Park will remain the fan-favourite that it has always been.
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