Five Fast Facts about the Austrian Gran Prix
From airfield to A1 Ring
The history of the Austrian Grand Prix technically lies in four different circuits laid out around otherwise sleepy Styria. The first races in the 1960s were held on the straight and flat Zeltweg Airfield, although only one of these was part of the Formula 1 world championship. Then, the Österreichring was constructed just a few kilometres away, in the hills above Zeltweg and neighbouring Spielberg. This offered a very different challenge with fast and flowing bends and plenty of undulation, but was eventually deemed too dangerous, dropping off the calendar after 1987. It returned 10 years later as the much more sanitised A1 Ring: a shortened layout designed by Hermann Tilke.
The long and short of it
In contrast to the almighty Österreichring, which measured nearly six kilometres in length, the modern circuit – which was renovated by Dietrich Mateschitz to become the Red Bull Ring in 2011 – is among the shorter tracks on the calendar at 4.3 kilometres. It has just 10 turns, at a generous count, most of which are short corners taken at relatively low speeds. The greatest lateral demands come from two consecutive corners in the middle sector, the only left-handers in the lap. With just three real straights, the focus of tyre management is instead on traction and braking at a venue that has produced some exciting racing since Formula 1 returned in 2014.
The shortest lap of the year
Even though the Red Bull Ring ranks as only the fifth-shortest circuit on the 2023 Formula 1 schedule (behind Monaco, Zandvoort, Mexico City and Interlagos) those long straights help to actually make it shortest of all in terms of lap time. The race lap record, set by Carlos Sainz Jr in a McLaren in 2020, stands at 1m05.619s, which is a whole five seconds quicker than the next-shortest lap, in Brazil. Naturally, the quickest qualifying laps get even closer to the one-minute mark: Valtteri Bottas lapped the track in just under 63 seconds on his way to pole position for the 2020 race with Mercedes.
Legends of the hills
For a relatively small country – population just under 10 million – Austria has produced more than its fair share of racing legends – many of whom are honoured at the Red Bull Ring, or have played an important role in the race. Turn 9 is named after the country's first racing hero, Jochen Rindt, who became Formula 1's only posthumous world champion in 1970. And, since 2019, the first corner has been dedicated to the late Niki Lauda, the three-time world champion who won around the Österreichring in 1984. Lauda's close friend Helmut Marko had his driving career cut short by an eye injury but continues to be involved in the sport in his role with Red Bull – as well as running two hotels in nearby Graz. The country's most recent F1 winner, Gerhard Berger, also played his part in the Austrian motorsport empire: he was the first driver ever to be sponsored by Red Bull.
Max, King of Austria?
Three drivers currently share the record for the most Austrian GP wins, with three victories each. Jo Siffert, from neighbouring Switzerland, took his first two wins when the race was run to sportscar rules – once in the final race at the Zeltweg airfield in 1968 and then a year later around the then-new Österreichring – before also winning the Formula 1 race in 1971. Alain Prost went on to take three wins in four years in the 1980s, his winning streak interrupted only by Lauda. Nowadays, Max Verstappen is a popular draw in Austria (with the local campsites perennially filled with Dutch fans). Driving for the home team, Red Bull's reigning champion won the race in 2018, 2019 and 2021. This year he can move clear with a record fourth win, but technically he already has four F1 victories at the Red Bull Ring as he also won the 2021 running of the Styrian Grand Prix – an extra race added to the calendar amid the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic.
