RaceFans Round-up: Making Melbourne a night race “could be attractive”

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…