Formula 1 Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Austria (German: Österreich), officially the Republic of Austria (German: Republik Österreich) is a country in Central Europe. Austria has history in Formula One, with two World Champions, one World Championship winning constructor and two circuits hosting 29 editions of the Austrian Grand Prix, which currently is on the F1 calendar.

Austria's first major influence was the 1964 Austrian Grand Prix at Zeltweg Airfield, the first hosting as a Championship event, in which future Austrian World Champion Jochen Rindt made his Formula One début. In 1970, Formula One returned to Austria at the Österreichring. Rindt retired from the race in his championship year, before tragically dying in the next race, but Rindt was still posthumously crowned.

The Österreichring retained its place in the calendar until 1987, after which it was deemed too unsafe. Niki Lauda, triple World Champion, is the only Austrian to win his home race.

Gerhard Berger, one of F1's most experienced drivers, saw his peak years while the Austrian GP was off the calendar, and it returned in his final season, for 1997. It was held at same track as before, however, the circuit had been totally rebuilt and renamed the A1-Ring. This lasted for seven years until 2003 until it was dropped again.

After years of sponsoring various teams, Red Bull Racing took over the Jaguar team for 2005, and having taken over the circuit, eventually began to redevelop the circuit with the aim of returning the circuit to the calendar, which was achieved in 2014.

There are currently no Austrian drivers on the grid, the last Austrian to have raced was Christian Klien in 2010. The Mercedes team however has a few key Austrian personnel, including Toto Wolff, who serves as the Team principal, and Lauda, who acted as the team's non-executive chairman from 2013 until his death in 2019. Another former driver, Helmut Marko, currently serves as advisor to the Red Bull team, with Franz Tost serving as team principal in Toro Rosso and AlphaTauri, the team being owned by Dietrich Mateschitz and formerly Berger.

F1 circuits in Austria[]

Circuit Location Events Map
Österreichring (1969–1995)
A1-Ring (1996–2004)
Red Bull Ring (2005–present)
Spielberg, Styria Austrian Grand Prix: 1970–1987
Austrian Grand Prix: 1997–2003
Austrian Grand Prix: 2014–present
GoogleMaps
Zeltweg Airfield Zeltweg, Styria Austrian Grand Prix: 1963 (NC), 1964 GoogleMaps

Austrian drivers[]

World Champions[]

Race Winners[]

Points scorers[]

Starters[]

Non-starters[]

Television and radio coverage[]

Television[]

Current broadcasters:

  • ORF eins
  • Sky Sport Austria

Notes[]

Advertisement