The Austrian Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Österreich) is a
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...
sanctioned motor racing event that was held in , –, –, and then returned to the
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
calendar in .
History
The Austrian Grand Prix has been held at two different locations in southeastern
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, being originally held in
Zeltweg, about west of
Graz
Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popula ...
. Since 1969 the Austrian Grand Prix has taken place in neighbouring
Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...
, with the two venues being within approximately of each other. 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
The 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring (originally known as the 500 km Zeltweg) was an endurance sports car event held near Spielberg, Austria. Originally based at the Zeltweg Airfield, the race moved to the Österreichring and was lengthened to ...
.
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
The European Grand Prix (also known as the Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One event that was introduced during the mid-1980s and was held every year from to , except in . During these years, the European Grand Prix was held in a count ...
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
Vittorio Brambilla (11 November 1937 – 26 May 2001) was a Formula One driver from Italy who raced for the March, Surtees and Alfa Romeo teams. Particularly adept at driving in wet conditions, his nickname was "The Monza Gorilla", due to h ...
, winning the only F1 race of his career, and, true to form, he crashed into the guardrail and broke the nose of his car shortly after crossing the finish line when the race was stopped early because the rain got worse (although the race started after 1 hour and 15 minutes of delay, due the heavy rain, with the drivers doing extra practice during this time). 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 (and Penske's only win in the category).
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 two 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 with Brambilla and Watson, it was his first Grand Prix victory. 1978 saw the dominant
Lotus 79
The Lotus 79 is a Formula One car designed in late 1977 by Colin Chapman, Geoff Aldridge, Martin Ogilvie, Tony Rudd, Tony Southgate and Peter Wright of Lotus. The Lotus 79 was the first F1 car to take full advantage of ground effects aerod ...
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 also 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 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 problems, 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. In the beginning, 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; 0.05 seconds. 1984 saw Lauda finally take victory at home Grand Prix 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 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
Michele Alboreto (; 23 December 1956 – 25 April 2001) was an Italian racing driver. He was runner up to Alain Prost in the 1985 Formula One World Championship, as well as winning the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans and 2001 12 Hours of Sebring sports ...
and
Stefan Johansson
Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson (born 8 September 1956) is a Swedish racing driver who drove in Formula One for both Ferrari and McLaren, among other teams. Since leaving Formula One he has won the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans and raced in a number o ...
.
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 number 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: that year, 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
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
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...
, 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
Red Bull GmbH () is an Austrian private company known for its range of energy drinks of the same name. It is also known for its sponsorship of a range of sporting events and teams. The headquarters of Red Bull GmbH are located in Fuschl am S ...
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. On 6 December, the officially released calendar included the Austrian Grand Prix on it.
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.''
* 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.''
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.''
* Built by
Cosworth
Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream Automotive industry, ...
, funded by Ford (except 1967)
** Between 1998 and 2001 built by
Ilmor
Ilmor is a British independent high-performance motor racing engineering company. It was founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in November 1983. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and maintenance offices in Plymouth, M ...
, funded by Mercedes
*** Built by
Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company ...
By year
''A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.''
See also
*
Styrian Grand Prix
The Styrian Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis der Steiermark) was a Formula One motor racing event held at the Red Bull Ring, named after Styria, the province of Austria in which the circuit is located. Created in 2020 to maximize the number of ...
, also held in Austria
References
{{Formula One races
Formula One Grands Prix
National Grands Prix
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
Recurring sporting events established in 1963
1963 establishments in Austria
2003 disestablishments in Austria
2014 establishments in Austria