The Albert Park race circuit is set to undergo a series of changes, which will involve changing the configuration of the layout and relaying the track surface. The only positive news regarding the delay of the Albert Park race circuit is that the organizers of the event now have time to execute a few changes that should benefit the race. While the changes were scheduled to be executed for the 2022 edition of the race, the postponement has brought forward those planned changes. "We had to look at what the scheduling of works was before or after the November date, and what we could fit in,” Andrew Westacott, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation CEO said to Speedcafe.com. "The ability to make the geometric changes, the civil changes, the realignment changes, as well as doing the resurfacing wasn’t possible before the temperature dropped to levels where you can’t lay the asphalt mixes appropriately. “This is not just your common garden variety asphalt mix you put on normal roads, they have stiffer binders, they have different characteristics, they have to be laid in a particular manner, and you have to do those when there’s warmer months. “So what needed to be done was, with the phasing, we got the work done pre-Christmas which was pit lane widening. Those works are completed and were very, very well done and constructed. “We’re now doing the geometric changes and we will put an asphalt mix down consistent with the asphalt surface in those areas. “Post the November Grand Prix we will re-asphalt the surface with an asphalt mix that has a higher level of abrasiveness than the current mix that is down there, and has been down there since 1995.” The changes to the track's layout and geometric configuration will mainly occur in the latter half of the circuit with the turn 9 and 10 sequences and the entry to turn 13 the main corners under consideration. “I’ll rely on the F1 simulations on the fullthrottle aspect, but it’s certainly going to be considerably faster through Lakeside [Drive] than it will have been in the past," Westacott said. “That will mean two things; one it will mean Turn 11 and 12 becomes an even more critical part of the circuit, as does Turn 13, which will be deceleration from a much higher set of speeds. “I think Turn 13 is going to become one of those locations on the circuit, and the key location on the circuit, for a high level of driver activity.” Work on the circuit will begin from February 22 with road closures commencing in March, with the work scheduled to end in July.
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