Australian GP: DRS zone removed at Albert Park for 'safety reasons'

Melbourne [Australia], April 9 : Melbourne's Albert Park will continue with three DRS zones for the rest of the 2022 Australian Grand Prix weekend, the FIA's Race Director Niels Wittich stated on Saturday morning.
Amid sweeping track changes ahead of its return to the 2022 calendar, Albert Park was scheduled to feature four DRS zones, adding a new one between Turns 8-9. That DRS zone on the long left-hand stretch, however, has now been removed, as detailed in a statement issued on Saturday ahead of FP3.
"For safety reasons, DRS Zones will be reduced to 3 for the remainder of the event.
"DRS detection 1 will be moved to before Turn 9, DRS activation 1 will be after Turn 10, DRS detection 2 will remain unchanged, with the following activation zones will be renumbered accordingly," read the statement.
Later in qualifying, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took the first Australian Grand Prix pole position since 2019 with a blistering performance at Albert Park - with Red Bull's Max Verstappen lining up second on the grid for Sunday's race.
Sergio Perez qualified third but the Mexican driver was due to visit the stewards after the session to discuss a possible yellow flag infringement during Q2.