Austrian Grand Prix
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The Austrian Grand Prix (German: Großer Preis von Österreich) is a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile sanctioned motor racing event that was held in 1964, 1970–1987, 1997–2003, and then returned to the Formula One calendar in 2014.
History
The Austrian Grand Prix has been held at two different locations in southeastern
Zeltweg Airfield circuit
A non-championship event was held in 1963 at a
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
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 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 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 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 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
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]
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 4 |  Max Verstappen
|
2018, 2019, 2021, 2023 |
| 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 | |
| Valtteri Bottas
|
2017, 2020 | |
| Sources:[5][6][7] | ||
* 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 7 |  Ferrari
|
1964, 1965, 1970, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2022 |
| 6 |  McLaren
|
1984, 1985, 1986, 1998, 2000, 2001 |
| 5 | Mercedes
|
2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020 |
| 4 | Lotus
|
1972, 1973, 1978, 1982 |
 Red Bull
|
2018, 2019, 2021, 2023 | |
| 3 | Porsche
|
1966, 1968, 1969 |
| Williams
|
1979, 1987, 1997 | |
| 2 | Brabham
|
1963, 1974 |
| Renault
|
1980, 1983 | |
| Sources:[5][6][7] | ||
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 |
| 7 | Ferrari
|
1964, 1965, 1970, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2022 |
| 3 | Porsche
|
1966, 1968, 1969 |
 TAG ***
|
1984, 1985, 1986 | |
| Renault
|
1980, 1983, 1997 | |
 Honda
|
1987, 2019, 2021 | |
| Sources:[5][6][7] | ||
* Built by Cosworth, funded by Ford (except 1967)
** Between 1998 and 2001 built by Ilmor, funded by Mercedes
*** Built by Porsche
By year
A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.
See also
- Styrian Grand Prix, also held in Austria
References
- ^ "Zeltweg Air Base". Google Maps. Archived from the original on 28 December 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- ^ "Zeltweg 200 Miles 1965 - Race Results - Racing Sports Cars". www.racingsportscars.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
- ^ "Austrian Grand Prix set to return to F1 calendar in 2014". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Archived from the original on 31 March 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
- ^ "2015". Formula1.com. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Austrian GP". ChicaneF1. Archived from the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
- ^ a b c d Diepraam, Mattijs; Muelas, Felix. "Grand Prix winners 1894–2019". Forix. Autosport. Archived from the original on 17 August 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7603-0152-4– via Internet Archive.