Austrian Grand Prix

The Austrian Grand Prix (German: Großer Preis von Österreich) is a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile sanctioned auto race which was held in 1964, 1970–1987 and 1997–2003. The Grand Prix returned to the Formula One calendar in 2014.

Austrian Grand Prix
Red Bull Ring
(1997–2003, 2014–present)
Race information
Number of times held39
First held1963
Most wins (drivers) Alain Prost (3)
Most wins (constructors) McLaren (6)
Ferrari (6)
Circuit length4.318 km (2.683 mi)
Race length306.452 km (190.420 mi)
Laps71
Last race (2020)
Pole position
Podium
Fastest lap
The controversial Ferrari 1–2 crossing the finish line in 2002.

History

The Austrian Grand Prix has been held at two different locations in southeastern Austria, being originally held in Zeltweg, about 70 km (43 mi) west of Graz. Since 1969 the Austrian Grand Prix has taken place in neighbouring Spielberg, with the two venues being within approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) of each other.[1] It was first held at the Zeltweg Air Base for six years, before a permanent track, originally called the Österreichring and later known as the A-1 ring and Red Bull Ring, was built.

Zeltweg Airfield circuit

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.

The event was run in 1965 as a non-championship sports car race, the Zeltweg 200 Miles, before being adopted by the World Sportscar Championship from 1966 to 1969 as the 1000 km Zeltweg.[2]

Österreichring

From 1970 until 1987, the event was held at the Österreichring (translated literally as "Austria 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 Grand Prix 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 second Drivers' 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 favourite 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 and would become known as the Hella-Licht Chicane. This race was won by Australian Alan Jones in a Shadow; and like Brambilla and Watson, it was his first Grand Prix victory. 1978 saw the dominant Lotus 79s 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 three 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 four better handling cars and get into a five-way battle for third place, which went on for a while but the four 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 five 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. The 1985 race saw a fearsome crash at the Panorama Curve when Andrea de Cesaris spectacularly rolled his Ligier, which led to him being fired from the team. 1986 saw Austrian driver Gerhard Berger lead the early laps in his 1,400 bhp (1,044 kW; 1,419 PS) Benetton-BMW, but electrical problems saw his race ruined allowing Alain Prost to take the win by over a lap from the Ferraris of Michele Alboreto and Stefan Johansson.

The 1987 race was restarted twice due to accidents on the narrow pit-straight grid; 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 and confined 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 second to his teammate, Briton Nigel Mansell. Attempts to bring the race back were unsuccessful, and the event disappeared for a decade.

A1-Ring

Special events are commonly held before the Grand Prix.

In 1995 and 1996, the Österreichring was refurbished and brought up to date, which allowed the race to run again in 1997. Since the 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 whole layout was redesigned by Hermann Tilke, and the track lost all of its long, sweeping corners, aside from the Texaco Bends (which were made shorter and slower) and the Hella-Licht chicane, Flatschach, Dr. Tiroch curve and the first half of the backstretch run up to where the Bosch-Kurve was taken out and replaced with a bypass that went directly to the second half of the fast, uphill backstretch. 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

In July 2013, it was reported that the circuit's new owners Red Bull GmbH had reached an agreement with Bernie Ecclestone to revive the Austrian Grand Prix after a ten-year absence from the calendar. The race was given a provisional date of July 2014.[3] On 6 December, the officially released calendar included the Austrian Grand Prix on it.[4]

Official names

  • 1963, 1998: Großer Preis von Österreich (no official sponsor)[5]
  • 1964, 1986–1987, 1997, 1999, 2014–2017: Grosser Preis von Österreich (no official sponsor)[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]
  • 1970–1972: Grand Prix von Österreich (no official sponsor)[15][16]
  • 1973: Memphis Grand Prix von Österreich[17]
  • 1974–1975: Memphis Grand Prix[18][19]
  • 1976: Raiffeisen Grand Prix/Großer Preis von Österreich[20]
  • 1977: Gröbl Möbel Grand Prix/Großer Preis von Österreich[21]
  • 1978–1979: Grand Prix (no official sponsor)[22][23]
  • 1980–1981: Grand Prix/Großer Preis von Österreich (no official sponsor)[24][25]
  • 1982–1983: Grand Prix/Holiday Grand Prix (no official sponsor)[26][27]
  • 1984–1985: Grosser Preis von Österreich/Holiday Grand Prix (no official sponsor)[28][29]
  • 2000–2002: Grosser A1 Preis von Österreich[30]
  • 2003: A1 Grand Prix von Österreich[31]
  • 2018: Eyetime Grosser Preis von Österreich[32][33]
  • 2019, 2021: myWorld Grosser Preis von Österreich[34][35]
  • 2020: Rolex Grosser Preis von Österreich[36]

Winners of the Austrian Grand Prix

Repeat winners (drivers)

Drivers in bold are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season.
A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.

Wins Driver Years won
3 Jo Siffert 1968, 1969*, 1971
Alain Prost 1983, 1985, 1986
2 Ronnie Peterson 1973, 1978
Alan Jones 1977, 1979
Mika Häkkinen 1998, 2000
Michael Schumacher 2002, 2003
Nico Rosberg 2014, 2015
Max Verstappen 2018, 2019
Valtteri Bottas 2017, 2020

* Shared win with Kurt Ahrens, Jr.

Repeat winners (constructors)

Teams in bold are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season.
A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.

Wins Constructor Years won
6 McLaren 1984, 1985, 1986, 1998, 2000, 2001
Ferrari 1964, 1965, 1970, 1999, 2002, 2003
5 Mercedes 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020
4 Lotus 1972, 1973, 1978, 1982
3 Porsche 1966, 1968, 1969
Williams 1979, 1987, 1997
2 Brabham 1963, 1974
Renault 1980, 1983
Red Bull 2018, 2019

Repeat winners (engine manufacturers)

Manufacturers in bold are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season.
A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.

Wins Manufacturer Years won
10 Ford * 1967, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1982
8 Mercedes ** 1998, 2000, 2001, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020
6 Ferrari 1964, 1965, 1970, 1999, 2002, 2003
3 Porsche 1966, 1968, 1969
TAG *** 1984, 1985, 1986
Renault 1980, 1983, 1997
2 Honda 1987, 2019

* Built by Cosworth, funded by Ford (except 1967)

** Between 1998 and 2001 built by Ilmor, funded by Mercedes

*** Built by Porsche

Year by year

The Österreichring with the chicane, used from 1977 to 1987
The original Österreichring, used from 1969 to 1976
Zeltweg Airfield, used from 1963 until 1968

A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.

Year Driver Constructor Location Report
1963 Jack Brabham Brabham-Climax Zeltweg Airfield Report
1964 Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari Zeltweg Airfield Report
1965 Jochen Rindt[37] Ferrari Zeltweg Airfield Report
1966 Gerhard Mitter
Hans Herrmann[37]
Porsche Report
1967 Paul Hawkins[37] Ford Report
1968 Jo Siffert[37] Porsche Report
1969 Jo Siffert
Kurt Ahrens, Jr.[37]
Porsche Österreichring Report
1970 Jacky Ickx Ferrari Österreichring Report
1971 Jo Siffert BRM Report
1972 Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford Report
1973 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford Report
1974 Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford Report
1975 Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford Report
1976 John Watson Penske-Ford Report
1977 Alan Jones Shadow-Ford Report
1978 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford Report
1979 Alan Jones Williams-Ford Report
1980 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault Report
1981 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra Report
1982 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford Report
1983 Alain Prost Renault Report
1984 Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG Report
1985 Alain Prost McLaren-TAG Report
1986 Alain Prost McLaren-TAG Report
1987 Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda Report
1988

1996
Not held
1997 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault A1-Ring Report
1998 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes Report
1999 Eddie Irvine Ferrari Report
2000 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes Report
2001 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes Report
2002 Michael Schumacher Ferrari Report
2003 Michael Schumacher Ferrari Report
2004

2013
Not held
2014 Nico Rosberg Mercedes Red Bull Ring Report
2015 Nico Rosberg Mercedes Report
2016 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Report
2017 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes Report
2018 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer Report
2019 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda Report
2020 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes Report

References

  1. "Zeltweg Air Base". Google Maps. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  2. "Zeltweg 200 Miles 1965 - Race Results - Racing Sports Cars". www.racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  3. "Austrian Grand Prix set to return to F1 calendar in 2014". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  4. "2015". Formula1.com. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  5. "1998 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  6. "1964 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  7. "1986 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  8. "1987 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  9. "1997 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  10. "1999 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  11. "2014 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  12. "2015 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  13. "2016 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  14. "2017 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  15. "1971 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  16. "1972 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  17. Mitchell, Malcolm. "1973 Formula 1 Programmes – The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  18. "1974 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  19. "1975 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  20. Mitchell, Malcolm. "1976 Formula 1 Programmes – The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  21. Mitchell, Malcolm. "1977 Formula 1 Programmes – The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  22. "1978 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  23. "1979 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  24. "1980 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  25. "1981 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  26. "1982 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  27. "1983 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  28. "1984 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  29. "1985 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  30. Mitchell, Malcolm. "2000 Formula 1 Programmes – The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  31. Mitchell, Malcolm. "2003 Formula 1 Programmes – The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  32. "2018 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  33. "eyetime to be title sponsor at the Austrian Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. 25 May 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  34. "2019 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  35. "Austria". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  36. "Austria". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  37. Higham, Peter (1995). The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing. p. 350. ISBN 0851126421.
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