In the round-up: Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali is open to the idea of converting the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park into a night race.
In brief
Making Melbourne a night race “could be attractive” – Domenicali
The Australian round of the championship has always been held at one of the most inconvenient times for television viewers in Europe, with have traditionally made up the bulk of audiences. The start time for the race is 3pm local time, which is 6am in Britain and 1am Eastern Time in the USA.
Speaking at a SportNXT conference on Wednesday, Domenicali said he would be open to the idea of moving the race to a night race to make the start time more Europe-friendly. “We’ve discussed about it. Why not?,” Domenicali was quoted as saying by The Age. “It’s a matter of investment.
“It could be attractive. When you’re planning for so long, you can really think what is the best to create new products. You never know. It would be important to understand the implications.”
However, Australian Grand Prix Corporation CEO Andrew Westacott – who will step down after this year’s event – believes the current race time suits the city. “Because of the attractiveness that each single city provides and contributes to the championship, Melbourne’s place as an afternoon race on a Sunday works beautifully,” he said. “But you never say never in Formula 1.”
Gasly unsure whether fourth DRS zone will aid passing
Alpine driver Pierre Gasly says the addition of a fourth DRS zone for this year’s Australian Grand Prix could be a positive for the circuit where overtaking is relatively difficult.
A fourth zone was added last year along the lengthened Lakeside Drive straight up to the turns nine and ten chicane but was removed before the race due to safety concerns. The zone has been reinstated for this weekend.
“I think it’s going to be interesting,” said Gasly. “We know obviously that Melbourne is usually a very difficult track to overtake, so if you can increase the overtaking opportunities, increase the racing, make it slightly more entertaining and a bit more racier on that track, I think that’s definitely positive. But it’s not guaranteed. We’ll see in practice what we get.”
Piastri reveals turn as Kvyat’s ‘grid kid’
Oscar Piastri has revealed he held the Russian flag for Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat before the 2015 Australian Grand Prix as part of the grid kid programme.
“I was here last year as a reserve driver, and I was here, I think, 2015,” he said. “I was a grid kid, actually for Daniil Kvyat, so I was holding Daniil Kvyat’s flag, and he broke down on the lap-to-grid, so I never actually got to see him. But it’s pretty special to have someone holding my flag this time but hopefully I have better luck.”
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Stefano Domenicali is against free practice – The comment by Gian Carlo Minardi (Minardi.it)
” If we talk about formats, I am convinced that the entire programme could be focussed on the days of Saturday and Sunday. The Friday could be left at the disposition of the fans and the much acclaimed show. Domenicali is right: the public wants to see the action and currently Friday is more “tired” also on the ticket sale front. Because of the high cost of the tickets people do not want to or cannot lose a day of work for Formula 1 and so they can concentrate the efforts on the other two days.”
Meet Hannah Schmitz – McLaren Applied Female Engineer of the Year Award winner (McLaren Applied)
“Will (Courtenay, head of strategy) and I discuss every race in detail. We talk over everything with the whole department, everybody gives their opinion. We also talk to the race engineers, who might have different opinions on what went right and wrong. But there’s never any blame. It’s more, ‘let’s just talk about it.’ You never feel defensive and are open to sharing ideas. It’s a good environment and many people end up staying at Red Bull a long time. It’s a really nice team.”
Lewis Hamilton says it ‘could take a long time’ for Mercedes to compete with Red Bull (BBC)
“When you’re driving, you feel like you’re sitting on the front wheels, which is one of the worst feelings to feel when you’re driving a car. If you were driving your car at home and you pulled the wheels right underneath your legs, you would not be happy when you’re approaching the roundabout. What that does is it really changes the attitude of the car and how you perceive its movement. And it makes it harder to predict compared to when you’re further back and sitting more centred. It is just something I have really struggled with.”
Are e-fuels the miracle that will save the combustion engine? (Motor Sport)
“Of course what some are hoping is that by the time the exemption comes into force in 2035, the technology will be have been upscaled sufficiently for e-fuels to become both affordable and widely available, so that you’ll be able to switch from bad old fossil fuels to good old e-fuels and, like the engine in your car, scarcely notice the difference at all.”
The race is on for the grand prix of party invitations (The Age)
“One billionaire husband and wife philanthropists and business executives who will attend are Paul Little and Jane Hansen. Little is the chairman of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, who is tasked with finding a successor to Westacott, who announced he would leave after the staging of this event, which will remain at Albert Park at least until 2037.”
Car Physics Simulation Model and Assist Settings Changes (Update 1.31) (Gran Turismo)
“Improvements to the car physics simulation model and assist settings have been made with Gran Turismo 7’s Update 1.31. Please see below for details.”
MotoGP 23 Announcement Trailer (Milestone via YouTube)
The upcoming MotoGP game features dynamic weather, flag-to-flag rules and a more narrative focused career mode.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Former FIA #F1 race director Michael Masi, who was removed from his position after his error in applying the rules during the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP influenced the outcome of the world championship, is back in the paddock at Melbourne – here he is with @PierreGASLY.#AustralianGP pic.twitter.com/4fRfUKe1JC
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) March 30, 2023
Support categories kicking off today’s racing action 🚘👍#AusGP pic.twitter.com/s7wWZxljCk
— F1 Australian Grand Prix (@ausgrandprix) March 30, 2023
There are 60,832 people at Albert Park today to see Supercars and Porsche Carrera Cup. F1, F2 and F3 don’t even appear until tomorrow. What an amazing bill they’ve put together here #AustralianGP
— Sean Kelly (@virtualstatman) March 30, 2023
If the FIA was serious about equality in motorsport it wouldn’t be carting F3 & F2 to Australia this weekend but rather making F4 as affordable as possible with a proper prize fund structure up to F1
— Ben Evans (@bencommentator) March 29, 2023
Love the humour @GvanderGarde ! I remember well when you walked in the paddock in Oz to hopefully being able to drive the Sauber. You even had to use @Ericsson_Marcus ‘s racing suit for the seat fit if I remember well. Crazy days… https://t.co/HY14GtHxFf
— Julien Simon-Chautemps (@julien_sc) March 30, 2023
A Mag’s best friend 🐾
Kev got to meet Snowy from @AssistanceDogs in the paddock today and they got along pretty well 😊#HaasF1 pic.twitter.com/UdRxtZnVLz
— MoneyGram Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) March 30, 2023
2015 Aus GP Grid Kid ⏩ 2023 #AusGP F1 driver 🇦🇺#OP81 #F1 #RoadToF1 pic.twitter.com/WYD2L3Xt2d
— Oscar Piastri (@OscarPiastri) March 30, 2023
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Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Yuri Kofman and Shortstick1!
On this day in motorsport
- Born on this day in 1956: Kevin Cogan, a winner in IndyCar racing who made two unsuccessful attempts to qualify in F1 with RAM and Tyrrell in the early eighties
March on RaceFans
A selection of RaceFans’s top reads from last month which you might have missed:
