© Getty ImagesPreviously At The Austrian Grand PrixOur 2023 Homecoming is here...
TheRedBullRingisamazing.OK,admittedly,wemightbeslightlybiasedtowardsourhomegrandprix–butaskanybodywho’sbeen:it’sagreattracktorace;agreatplacetospectate,andneverfailstogiveeveryonewatchingathomesomethingtogetexcitedabout.It’salsosurroundedbypicturesquemountains,beautifulmeadowsandsomeofthemostfantasticbeeryouwouldeverwanttomeet.
Formula One came back to the village of Spielberg in 2014. The circuit at the Red Bull Ring was unchanged from that of the A1-Ring, which hosted the Austrian Grand Prix between 1997 and 2003. That really wasn’t negotiable. Itself built on the bones of the old, fire-breathing Österreichring, the layout maximises the space available, threading its way across the hillside and between the various covenants governing the use of the surrounding farmland.
It does, however, make a virtue of necessity: using every contour and camber to make the lap more challenging – and with the new grandstands added for the resumption, it allowed most spectators to see most of the lap. Granted, not a very long lap with pole times hovering around 65 seconds – but in a 71-lap race, you get to see a lot of them. These are perhaps our most memorable performances.
When the return of the Austrian Grand Prix was announced, Red Bull Racing were sitting pretty having won four Drivers’ and four Constructors’ titles in a row – but the first Austrian Grand Prix for a decade was less a coronation, more a baptism of fire.
Teething problems with the hybrid power units meant the RB10s early races were mostly about preventing the car catching fire – but we went to Austria in good heart, Daniel having given us a first victory of the new era at the previous round in Canada. It wasn't to be repeated: he qualified P5 with team-mate and reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel in P13. Things went from bad to worse with Seb retiring with an electronics problem, and Daniel falling back to P8 at the flag, on the power-dominated circuit.
The race was a great success, however, with a huge crowd having a blast all weekend in the campsites around the circuit, Dr Marko, Niki Lauda and Gerhard Berger rolling back the years for a Legends parade at the circuit where they all made their F1 debut, and Daniel beginning a life-long affinity with leather shorts.
Winning our home race at the fifth time of trying was honestly something of a surprise. We had won two of the first eight races of the season thanks to Daniel, but the Red Bull Ring is a power track and our PU in 2018 was a little lacking in that department – but things went our way. First Valtteri Bottas had a gearbox failure and then under the subsequent Virtual Safety Car, team-mate Lewis Hamilton, concerned with being bracketed by two Ferraris and two Red Bulls splitting strategies, elected to not pit.
Once everything shook out, Max had the lead and did not put a foot wrong. Cue the orange smoke from the grandstands, Max crowd surfing with his mechanics in the pit lane and Jonathan Wheatley collecting the Constructors’ trophy in some very natty lederhosen.
2018 Brilliance From Max© Getty Images
Unless he discovered the cockpit was full of snakes, it’s difficult to imagine a worse start to the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix for Max Verstappen, bogging down on the grid and rocketing back from second to eighth place on lap one. But the Red Bull Ring is generous with overtaking opportunities, and Max on a mission is something to behold.
He took seventh from team-mate Pierre Gasly before the end of the first lap, picks off Lando Norris for P6 on lap seven, going inside into Turn Three, and Kimi Räikkönen in a carbon copy move on lap nine for P5. He ran longer than the other front runners and briefly took the lead on lap 31, before his own pitstop, getting ahead of Lewis Hamilton through the stops, before setting off after Sebastian Vettel and passing the Ferrari for P3 on Lap 50, this time into Turn Four. Valtteri Bottas followed on Lap 56, again at T3, leaving Max P2 with 15 laps remaining: “game on,” said a deadpan Gianpiero Lambiase from the pitwall.
Max caught leader Charles Leclerc with four laps remaining, and the pair enjoyed a battle that ranks high on the all-time list, with Max eventually completing a robust pass for the lead on lap 69. In a race with no interruptions, and an RB15 that, while good, was certainly not a world-beater, Max did it by himself. The crowd went wild, tears were shed at Honda for their first victory in 13 years, and once again Max is the King of the Ring.
Going Wild For Victory© Getty Images
2021:GrandChelemandDoubleDip
The caprices of Covid meant the calendar year between July 5th 2020 and July 4th 2021, saw a bumper 26 grands prix – four of which were held at the Red Bull Ring. The F1 schedule has seen many strange and wonderful things over its 70+ years – but that’s a particular quirk unlikely to ever be repeated. It also meant Max’s back-to-back victories at the 2021 Styrian and Austrian Grand Prix are now the answer to an excellent pub quiz question regarding the shortest span on time between two F1 wins on the same circuit.
Styrian was up first and, in the middle of a tight Championship battle, Max was immaculate, taking victory from pole and leading every lap of the race along the way – and yet the following week he improved. The differentiator for the Austrian Grand Prix was shuffling down a compound to Pirelli’s softest offerings. It moved Max from a one to a two-stop race – but otherwise made little difference: he once again won from pole leading every lap of the race – but this time added the fastest lap – his first entry into the ranks of the fabled grand chelem, since equalled at Imola last year and Barcelona just a few short weeks ago.
Double Take, Double Winning© Getty Images
