The Austrian Grand Prix (German: Grand Prix von Österreich) was a Formula One race held in 1964, 1970-1987 and 1997-2003. It is soon again going to be held in the 2014 Formula One season at the Red Bull Ring.
| Red Bull Ring | |
 | |
| Race information | |
|---|---|
| Number of times held | 27 |
| First held | 1963 |
| Last held | 2003 |
| Most wins (drivers) |  Alain Prost (3) |
| Most wins (constructors) |  McLaren (6) |
| Circuit length | 4.326 km (2.688 miles) |
| Race length | 307.146 km (190.848 miles) |
| Laps | 71 |
| Last race (2003) | |
| Pole position | |
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| Podium | |
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| Fastest lap | |
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History
Zeltweg Airfield (1963-1964)
A non-championship event was held in 1963 at a race track on the Zeltweg Airfield and it was won by Australian Jack Brabham. The first championship event took place in the following year, and Italian Lorenzo Bandini won his only Formula One championship race in a Ferrari. The race was a success, but the track was deemed too dangerous; it was narrow and very bumpy, and spectators complained of poor viewing areas. The FIA removed the race from the F1 calendar until a suitable track was built.
Österreichring (1970-1987)
From 1970 until 1987, the event was held at the Österreichring (translated literally as "Austrian circuit") (also located near Zeltweg). It was built in the scenic Styrian mountains and it was a fast, flowing track where every corner was high speed and long. The Austrian was designated the European Grand Prix once, 1975, when this title was an honorary designation given each year to one grand prix race in Europe. The very fast track was popular with drivers, and the events were moderately successful. The first race on this track was dominated by Ferrari, with their more powerful Flat-12 engines enabled them to be 10 mph faster- which is a lot in racing terms. The 1971 race saw Swiss driver Jo Siffert dominate in his BRM and Briton Jackie Stewart took his 2nd driver's championship. The 1975 event was marred by the fatal accident of American Mark Donohue, and the race itself was rain-soaked and was won by Vittorio Brambilla, winning the only F1 race of his career, and, true to form, he crashed when he crossed the finish line when the race was stopped early because the rain got worse. In 1976, home favorite Niki Lauda's appalling crash at the Nürburgring caused him to miss the race, which was won by Briton John Watson in the short-lived Penske F1 team, winning his first Formula One race.
1976 had seen the Voest-Hugel corner changed slightly into one corner instead of two corners; but 1977 saw a slow three corner chicane installed at Voest-Hugel, which was where Donohue had crashed 2 years before. What was the fastest corner on the track was now the slowest corner there. This race was won by Australian Alan Jones in a Shadow; and like Brambilla and Watson, he won his first F1 race too. 1978 saw the dominant Lotus 79's on the front row, and American Mario Andretti crashed at the Glatz Kurve on the first lap, and his teammate, Swede Ronnie Peterson- took victory. 1979 started to show the superiority of turbo-charged engines on this fast and high-altitude circuit. Although Jones won again in a Williams, Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Rene Arnoux in their Renaults were able to dominate this event and the following year's race, which Jabouille won. 1981 saw 3 turbo-charged cars dominate the front row; and into the race, the immense power and dreadful handling of Didier Pironi's Ferrari helped him to hold up 4 better handling cars and get into a 5-way battle for 3rd place, which went on for a while but the 4 cars passed eventually passed him, one of which was Jacques Laffite who went on to win the race. 1982 saw a spectacular show in which 5 turbocharged cars dominated the grid; all but one of these cars retired with mechanical troubles, including Italian Riccardo Patrese who had a spectacular accident at the Texaco Bends and Frenchman Alain Prost, whose engine expired with a few laps to go while in the lead. After Prost's retirement, the race turned into a dead-heat sprint between Italian Elio de Angelis in a Lotus and Finn Keke Rosberg in a Williams. Rosberg had been steadily chipping away at De Angelis; but after Prost retired, Rosberg began to make up 1.5 seconds a lap on De Angelis; and on the last lap the two so-far winless drivers battled for victory, and De Angelis was able to hold off Rosberg and win by less than half a car's length; .05 seconds. 1984 saw Lauda finally take victory at home in his McLaren, and Prost won the next two races.
But in 1987, the event had to be restarted twice due to accidents on the narrow pit-straight; and this track was also deemed too dangerous by FIA standards, because of the amount of high-speed corners, lack of protection from trees and embankments and accidents at the start of many races on the narrow pit straight. Increasing speeds were also a growing problem at the Österreichring, polesitter Nelson Piquet averaged 159.457 mph (255.756 km/h) in his 1,100 hp Honda-powered Williams. Piquet finished 2nd to his teammate, Briton Nigel Mansell. Attempts to bring the race back were unsuccessful, and the event disappeared for a decade.
A1-Ring (1997-2003)
In 1995 and 1996, the Österreichring was refurbished and brought up to date, which allowed the race to run again in 1997. Since the larger portion of the modernized track, which was renamed A1-Ring after a sponsor, is located on the municipal territory of Spielberg, Spielberg was now given as the site of the Grand Prix. The 2002 event received negative publicity after Ferrari instructed Rubens Barrichello to cede his victory to Michael Schumacher. It was a mainstay on the calendar until hosting its final race in 2003.
Red Bull Ring (2014)
On 23 July 2013 it was announced, that Dietrich Mateschitz and Bernie Ecclestone agreed on hosting the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg after dropping out of the calendar in 2004. After regulatory approval by Austrian authorities the race will be held on 6 July 2014.[1]
Records
- Driver
- Most wins – Alain Prost, 3
- Most podiums – David Coulthard, 5
- Most points – David Coulthard, 39
- Most poles – René Arnoux, Nelson Piquet & Niki Lauda, 3 (tied)
- Most grands prix – Jacques Laffite, 12
- Team
Winners of the Austrian Grand Prix
Repeat winners
Drivers
Only includes World Championship events
| Number of wins | Driver | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Alain Prost
|
1983, 1985, 1986 |
| 2 |  Ronnie Peterson
|
1973, 1978 |
 Alan Jones
|
1977, 1979 | |
 Mika Häkkinen
|
1998, 2000 | |
 Michael Schumacher
|
2002, 2003 |
Constructors
A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.
Embolded teams are still competing in the Formula One championship
| # Wins | Constructor | Years Won | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | McLaren
|
1984, 1985, 1986, 1998, 2000, 2001 | |
| 5 |  Ferrari
|
1964, 1970, 1999, 2002, 2003 | |
| 4 | Lotus
|
1972, 1973, 1978, 1982 | |
| 3 | Williams
|
1979, 1987, 1997 | |
| 2 | Brabham
|
1963, 1974 | |
| Renault
|
1980, 1983 | ||
Year by year
A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.
References
- ^ Noble, Jonathan (23 July 2013). "Austrian Grand Prix set to return to F1 calendar in 2014". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 23 July 2013.