The Red Bull Ring returned as host of the Austrian Grand Prix in 2014. Here are all the facts and statistics you need to know about the circuit ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix!
Track length: 4.318km
Race length: 306.452km
Laps: 71
Turns: 10
Circuit opened: 1969
F1 first visited: 1970
Races held: 37
Track Record: 1:02.939, Valtteri Bottas, 2020
Lap Record: 1:05.619, Carlos Sainz , 2020
RACE WINNERS
Since 1970, there have been 37 Formula 1 races held at the track now known as the Red Bull Ring.
Previously known as the Österreichring (1970-1987) and the A1-Ring (1997-2003), the Austrian Grand Prix has been held here 35 times, as have the 2020 and 2021 Styrian Grands Prix. During those 37 races, 24 different drivers have taken a victory at the circuit.
Verstappen has the most wins in Austria
Max Verstappen has the most wins in Austria, having taken his fifth victory at the Red Bull Ring in 2023.
Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg and Max Verstappen are the only drivers to have taken back-to-back victories at the Austrian Grand Prix. No driver has taken more than two consecutive wins at the circuit.
Four drivers on the current grid have previously won a Grand Prix at this circuit. While Max Verstappen has taken five victories at the Red Bull Ring, Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton have each won two races at the track. Charles Leclerc recorded his first Austrian Grand Prix victory in 2022.
British drivers have recorded more wins here than any other nation, with six wins.
The longest streak of different winners at the Red Bull Ring came between 1970 and 1977, when eight different drivers won in as many years.
Two drivers have recorded Grand Slams at this track. Jo Siffert did so at the 1971 Austrian Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen did so at the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix.
McLaren and Mercedes are tied for most wins at the track
McLaren and Mercedes are the teams with the most victories at the track with six apiece.
Mercedes hold the record for the longest streak of wins at the track, winning the Austrian Grand Prix all four times that it was held between 2014 and 2017.
Ford Cosworth and Mercedes-powered cars are tied for the most victories at this circuit, with nine each. The last win by a Ford engine at this track was in 1982, while Mercedes have powered six of the last 12 victories at the track.
There have been eight occasions on which a team has recorded a 1-2 finish at this circuit. Ferrari, Williams, McLaren and Mercedes are the four teams to have recorded 1-2 results here.
Prost won the 1986 Austrian Grand Prix by over a lap
Only one race here has been won by over a lap. That was in 1986, when Alain Prost finished over a lap ahead of everyone else with McLaren.
The smallest win margin here was a tiny 0.05 seconds in 1982. That’s the margin by which Elio de Angelis won for Lotus, after holding off Keke Rosberg as the pair battled for their debut race victories on the final lap.
23 races here have been won by less than ten seconds, while 16 races here have been won by less than five seconds; including six of the 12 since Formula 1 returned to the track in 2014.
Six races at the circuit have been won by less than a second. This most recently happened in 2017.
From the last ten races at the circuit, the average win margin has been 8.743 seconds.
ON THE PODIUM
53 different drivers have finished on the podium at this circuit.
Verstappen has the record for most podiums in Austria
In 2021, Valtteri Bottas set a new record for most podium results at the circuit, with his seventh podium result. That record was toppled by Max Verstappen in 2023, who now has eight podium finishes at the Red Bull Ring.
There are seven drivers on the current grid who have previously finished on the podium at the Red Bull Ring. Max Verstappen has the record with eight, Valtteri Bottas has seven and Lewis Hamilton has six. Behind them, Charles Leclerc has four top three finishes here, Lando Norris has two, while Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo have each had a single visit to the Austrian Grand Prix podium.
It’s British drivers who lead the way in the all-time list of nations’ top three finishes here. They have 20 compared to Finland’s 14.
Ferrari have the most podiums in Austria of any team
Ferrari are the team with the most podiums at the circuit, with their cars finishing in the top three on 27 occasions – ten more than McLaren, who are second on the list.
The furthest back Austrian Grand Prix podium came from 17th on the grid
The polesitter at this track has gone on to finish on the podium 24 times from the 37 races held.
The furthest back a podium finish at this track has come from is 17th on the grid. This happened in the very first race at the track, when Rolf Stommelen finished in third place having started down in 17th.
There have been only two races here where all the top three qualifiers have gone on to finish in the top three in the Grand Prix. It happened in 1999 and 2000.
The 2000 Austrian Grand Prix is the only race at the circuit in which the top three qualifiers finished in the same order as they started.
POLESITTERS
There have been 21 different polesitters at this track since 1970.
Max Verstappen set a new record for most pole in Austria in 2023
After the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix, Niki Lauda, Rene Arnoux, Nelson Piquet, Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen were all tied for the most poles in Austria, with three each. Verstappen set a new record with his fourth Red Bull Ring pole at the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix.
It’s Brazil who lead the way for the most poles for a nation at this track, with Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet, Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa taking seven poles between them at the circuit.
Of the current driver, Max Verstappen (4), Valtteri Bottas (3), Lewis Hamilton (3) and Charles Leclerc (1) are the drivers who’ve previously secured pole position in Austria.
Emerson Fittipaldi, Niki Lauda, Rene Arnoux, Mika Hakkinen, Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen are the seven drivers who have taken back-to-back poles at this circuit.
Rene Arnoux and Max Verstappen are the only drivers to have taken more than two consecutive poles here. Arnoux set the Saturday pace for three consecutive years in 1979, 1980 and 1981, while Verstappen took pole at four successive events at the track between 2021 and 2023.
Ferrari hold the record for most poles in Spielberg
Ferrari are the team with the most poles here, with eight.
Mercedes and Red Bull share the record for most consecutive poles at the Red Bull Ring. Mercedes took four Austrian Grand Prix poles in a row between 2015 and 2018, while Red Bull have secured pole in all of the last four races at the track.
There have been 18 occasions on which a team has locked-out the front row at the Red Bull Ring. No team has locked-out the front row here since Mercedes did so at the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix – though Red Bull did start first and second for the 2023 Sprint.
Hamilton is the only driver to take pole by over a second at the Red Bull Ring
Lewis Hamilton holds the record for the largest pole margin here, lapping 1.216 seconds faster than anyone else in qualifying for the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix. Hamilton is the only driver to have taken pole by over a second at the track.
Valtteri Bottas took pole by 0.012 seconds at the Red Bull Ring for the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix. That’s the smallest ever pole margin at the track.
Pole has been decided by less than a tenth of a second on 13 occasions at the circuit, including in seven of the last nine events.
Overall, the average pole margin at the Austrian Grand Prix is 0.241 seconds. The average pole margin from the last ten events is 0.241 seconds – though if you exclude the wet qualifying session for the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix, the average pole margin from the previous ten events is 0.139 seconds.
The largest gap between the slowest and fastest driver in a qualifying session at this track is 20.99 seconds, which was the difference in lap time in 1976 between James Hunt on pole and Loris Kessel who qualified in 25th.
SATURDAY TO SUNDAY
Just 14 of the 37 races held at this track have been won from pole, while 23 have been won from the front row of the grid. That means 14 races at this circuit have been won from third or further back.
The polesitter has finished on the podium here without winning the race on 10 occasions.
The furthest back win at the track came in 1977, when Alan Jones won for Shadow from 14th on the grid. It was the Shadow team’s only F1 victory.
There have been 12 occasions on which the polesitter has not led at the end of the first lap at the Spielberg venue. It last happened in 2018.
Rene Arnoux is the only polesitter at this track to have completed the first lap of the race outside of the top three positions. He crossed the line fourth at the end of the first lap in the 1979 Austrian Grand Prix.
SUNDAY STATISTICS
In total, there have been 2,288 Grand Prix racing laps at this circuit so far.
There have been only three occasions on which more than ten drivers have finished on the lead lap at the Red Bull Ring. That happened at the 2014, 2020 and 2023 Austrian Grands Prix, when 11 cars completed all 71 laps of the race.
Alain Prost’s victory in 1986 is the only time just one driver has finished on the lead lap.
Max Verstappen holds the record for most fastest laps in Austria
27 different drivers have set the fastest lap of a Grand Prix at this circuit. David Coulthard, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen shared the most fastest laps here with three apiece until 2023, when Verstappen secured his fourth fastest lap at the venue on his final lap in the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix.
Verstappen has led the most laps in Austria
44 drivers have led at least one lap of a Grand Prix at this venue. Max Verstappen holds the record for most laps led in Austria, having spent 276 laps in the lead.
Rubens Barrichello holds the record for most Austrian Grand Prix laps led without taking victory. He led 101 laps at the A1-Ring in his career without ever winning here. He famously moved over to let his team-mate past just before the chequered flag at the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix.
There have been only five occasions on which a driver has led every lap of the race at this track. It has happened three times in the last six races at the track.
There have been ten occasions on which the winner of the race has not been the driver who led the most laps of the Grand Prix.
The fewest laps led en route to victory at the Red Bull Ring is four. That’s how many laps Max Verstappen led on his way to victory at the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix.
Retirements and first lap DNFs in Austria
886 cars have been entered into World Championship races at the Red Bull Ring. Of those, 853 have qualified for races, while 843 have started the Grand Prix. From the 843 cars which have started a race here, 498 have reached the chequered flag, giving an overall finish rate of 59%.
The highest number of cars to finish a race here is 20, which happened in 2019. It was the first time every car that started reached the end of the race at this track.
The fewest number of cars to reach the chequered flag is seven, which happened in 1982.
In the 37 races held at this track, 28 retirements have been recorded on the opening lap. Esteban Ocon is the most recent driver to record a first lap retirement here, doing so at the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix.
Safety Cars and Red Flags at the Red Bull Ring
The Safety Car has made an appearance in 11 races at this track. The most Safety Car periods in one race here is three, which happened in the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix.
In addition, there have been three Virtual Safety Car outings at the Austrian Grand Prix – in 2018, 2022 and 2023.
Four races at the Red Bull Ring have been affected by rain.
Five races at the track have been red-flagged. The last time the Austrian Grand Prix was red-flagged was in 1987.
The 1975 and 2003 Austrian Grands Prix are the only races at this circuit which did not run to their scheduled distance. The 1975 race was shortened due to rain, while the 2003 race was shortened from 71 laps to 69 due to a faulty launch control on Cristiano da Matta’s Toyota, which meant that there were three formation laps!
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX
CHAMPIONSHIP GLORY
Jackie Stewart is the only driver to have been crowned World Champion in Austria. He won his second title at this track in 1971. The Constructors’ Championship has never been decided here.
There is yet to be a dead rubber race held at the Red Bull Ring. Both championships have still been up for grabs at every race held here.
The winner of a Grand Prix at this circuit has gone on to win the title in the same year on just 12 occasions – two of those coming in 2021, when Max Verstappen won both the Styrian and Austrian Grand Prix, before winning the title later in the year.
The polesitter at the circuit has won the title in the same year on 16 occasions.
From the 37 times that a race has been held at the track, the leader of the championship after the Grand Prix has gone on to win the title 24 times.
Since F1 returned to the Red Bull Ring in 2014, 2021 and 2023 are the only times that the Austrian Grand Prix winner has gone on to win the title in the same year. Lewis Hamilton, who won the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix, is the only other driver since 2014 to win a race at the track in the same season in which they have won the title.
