Austrian Grand Prix: Track and Statistics

For two years the Spielberg circuit has been the scene of double stages due to the pandemic, and this year the Red Bull Ring will host one race, but in a sprint format on Saturday.

The Austrian podium returned to Formula 1 for the 2014 season. The race at the track in Spielberg, which changed names for the third time – Osterreichring – A1 Ring – Red Bull Ring – returned to the championship thanks to Red’s efforts Bull co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz.

The track’s configuration is similar to that of 2003, but brought into line with modern standards – safety zones have been expanded, some sections have been fitted with TecPro barriers, a new press center and other facilities have been built. Located in a very picturesque spot, the old school lane has been given a new look.

Changed the names of most of the corners, with the names of the racers. Jochen Rindt’s corner stayed and in 2019 Niki Lauda’s corner reappeared – that’s what the track’s first corner was called.

The lap on the Austrian circuit is quite short – now only Monaco, Sao Paulo, Zandvoort and Mexico City are shorter, so results in Spielberg are traditionally tight.

The track at Spielberg is the shortest in terms of lap times. The record now belongs to Valtteri Bottas, who drove a Mercedes in 1:02.939 in 2020.

There are only ten corners at Spielberg, fewer than any other Formula 1 circuit, but in fact even fewer. Turns 2, 5 and 8 are driven with the accelerator fully depressed and cannot be considered full turns. The long straight in the first sector allows you to attack under braking, but the Austrian track isn’t the easiest to fight for position.

The track in Spielberg is very demanding on handling – the car should be as obedient as possible, have good mechanical grip at low speeds (turns 1, 3 and 4) and have a high efficiency in the fast corners 6-7 and 9 – 10. Engineers will have to find the traditional compromise between downforce and speed.

The height difference of 69 meters between the lowest point – the start-finish line, and the highest point – the third corner – is one of the biggest in the season.

There are three points of serious braking on the track – before turns 1, 3 and 4. On a short lap, the brakes don’t have time to cool down, so they wear out faster. The teams are forced to use the maximum configuration of the brake cooling system, which prevents the front tires from warming up properly – and on a short lap it is difficult to prepare them at the start of a fast lap in qualifying.

Four straights give full throttle for most of the circle, but the few serious brakes make it very difficult to achieve effective energy recovery with the MGU-K.

The Red Bull Ring is known for its high curbs – in the first, sixth and seventh bends, the load on the suspension is particularly high.

Like Interlagos, the track in Spielberg is at a decent height – about 640 meters, so the turbine will spin at high speed to compensate for the lower air pressure.

Sebastian Vettel: “The track at Spielberg has the shortest lap time, with only a few corners, but it is a challenge. We are approaching the second corner at maximum speed, and before that there is a lot of braking. The difficulty is that you practically do not see the apex and exit the bend. It is important to put everything on the brakes and increase speed for the next straight, where there is an opportunity to overtake.

The fourth and fifth turns are the only left on this track. Since the turns are close together, we count them as one. The second of these turns is very interesting.

The eighth turn is at the end of the circle – when passing the apex, the car pushes hard. This is another very fast corner, which is done in fifth gear. At the exit you have to use the full width of the curb, but at the same time be careful, because you can easily lose control of the car here.

Weekend schedule

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Tire sets given to teams for the weekend

For the fourth time this season, after Monaco, Baku and Canada, Pirelli will bring the softest compounds to the podium – C3, C4 and C5 marked Hard, Medium and Soft.

One set of the softest tires must be kept for the qualifying final – after that those who raced in the final must return this set to Pirelli.

A set of Medium and Hard tires must be kept for the race – unless declared wet, riders must use at least one of these sets.

Performance of active riders in Austria

Charles Leclerc: “I am looking forward to racing in Austria. Red Bull Ring is one of my favorite tracks and second only to Monaco in this regard. The circle is very short, but it has a special rhythm that I like. The fans are always very supportive there and there are several events taking place around the track, so the weekend turns out to be especially interesting.”