Five Things You Didn't Know About the Austrian GP

Austria welcomes us back with open arms this week, as the team gets ready for another blockbuster event in the Styrian hills. From Toto’s past job working at the circuit, to the local city’s thriving culture and heritage, there’s so much to learn ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend.

Short but sweet

A lap around this picturesque circuit is 4.326km, making it the third-shortest track on the current calendar behind Monaco and Interlagos. However, it only consists of 10 corners which is the lowest a venue has in our season.

Although this makes it an easy lap to remember, whether you’re watching on-boards or racing mates on the F1 game, a lack of turns doesn’t equal a lack of overtaking opportunities. The mix of long straights and heavy-breaking zones means there’s no shortage of stunning moves up and down the grid.

Gorgeous Graz

The Red Bull Ring is located in the Austrian province of Styria. Back in 2020 and 2021, when Formula 1 was forced to make changes to the calendar due to the pandemic, the circuit hosted back-to-back race weekends at the same venue, one named the traditional Austrian Grand Prix and the other known as the Styrian Grand Prix, due to its location

Within Styria lies its capital city, Graz. It’s a place that is known for both its medieval old town infrastructure, home to not one but two UNESCO World Heritage sites but also as the birthplace of our favourite bodybuilder-turned-actor-turned governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Graz is stunning, much like its surroundings and is a hub of architecture, natural beauty and heritage, with it being named UNESCO’s European Capital of Culture in 2003.

Dressed for the occasion

Although the heat in the hills might require George and Kimi to wear their silver Adidas CLIMACOOL System jackets, Austrian tradition is more about Tracht. Garments like Lederhosen for men and Dirndl dresses for women are a big part of the area's history, with the clothes reflecting a person’s social status and profession.

For Dirndl, the colours reflect the place you’re wearing them with Styrian styles embracing the natural lush hills with green dresses paired with white blouses. The way an apron is tied is also a symbol of that wearer's relationship status, with a bow on the left meaning you’re single, a bow to the right being that you’re taken and a bow at the back showing that you’re in mourning.

Lederhosen also has its own regional characteristics, but will see any of the team embrace the local dress this weekend? Stay tuned…

Toto the Teacher

As you may know, Toto is Austrian and was born in Vienna. But were you aware of his past at this circuit?

“It has always felt a bit like a second home,” Toto said in an interview last season. “Back then it was known as the Österreichring. I was 18 years old, and a driving instructor.”

Toto worked at the circuit in 1991, adding: “I would sleep in a farmhouse near to the track while I was doing the instructing, the people were super lovely and friendly. I would drive back and forth between Vienna in those days, in my Seat Ibiza. I could barely afford the fuel!”

Fast forward to 2014, when Toto was Team Principal at the Silver Arrows. At the same circuit he used to work at as a teenager, he steered the team to victory and helped Mercedes achieve a one-two result with customer team Williams also in the third and fourth place slots.

“The mechanics decided to hang a Mercedes star off of the Bull in the middle of the circuit,” recalls Toto. “They were balancing on a lorry and then standing on a ladder to put the star on!”

A close call

Austria is home to not one but two of Formula 1’s closest finishes. The first was in 1982, when Elio de Angelis beat Keke Rosberg by 0.050s to the line around the 5.942 km Österreichring circuit, before it was later revamped and became the Red Bull Ring we know and love today.

The other was in 2002, when team orders from the Ferrari pit wall saw Rubens Barrichello slow on the start-finish straight to let teammate Michael Schumacher through and leave a winning margin of 0.182s. On the podium, Schumi made Rubens stand on the top step, something the team and drivers were later fined $1 million for from the FIA for violating podium protocol.

What is the closest race finish I hear you ask? That would be the 1971 Italian Grand Prix, when Peter Gethin finished within 0.01s of Ronnie Peterson at Monza. Bonkers!