BWT Alpine Formula One Team head to Spielberg in the picturesque Styrian Mountains for the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix.

The race is a special one for the team as the home Grand Prix for our Title Partner, BWT. 'Best Water Technology' is the global market leader in water technology, with more than 6,500 employees, operating in 122 countries worldwide. BWT's iconic pink is adorned on the A526 and is a powerful visual statement, raising awareness of access to clean, safe drinking water for all.

Nestled in the mountains, the Spielberg circuit has become a summer staple for the sport and is a favourite among fans and drivers. The track starts by climbing the Austrian hillside, a 60-metre rise with a 12% gradient up to Turn 3, before it descends via the long back straight and through multiple high-speed corners. The fast and flowing course is the shortest lap time of the season with Qualifying laps clocking in at just over one minute in recent years.

Pierre Gasly: "To say the last few weeks were an emotional rollercoaster would be an understatement! I am very proud of the team's efforts both on and off-track recently and it's been great to continue our points-scoring run of form. Barcelona brought its challenges, especially in Qualifying which is an area we must keep working on. The race was much better, the pace was good, but we are still too far off the top four teams and we must keep striving to close that gap down. Austria is a tough track with little rest at the wheel. It's high speed, lots of elevation changes, hard braking zones and quite short in duration which means you have to be faultless as any small mistake really punishes lap-time where fine margins count. Away from racing, I will of course be keeping an eye on the World Cup. France are playing on Friday, so I will definitely watch that and hopefully they can continue their winning run!"

Franco Colapinto: "It was positive for the team to secure another double points finish in Barcelona last time out. There is a very good feeling in the team now we are well underway in Europe and I'm looking forward to the next double-header starting this week in Spielberg. Before going to the track, I will be visiting BWT in Mondsee to see the amazing work they do with water filtration technology and the importance of clean water. I visited there last year and it is a very beautiful part of the world which I'm looking forward to seeing once again. In terms of the race, the track is a very fun one which flows nicely. I've had some success in the past there including a Feature Race podium in Formula 2 in 2024, and a podium in my Formula 3 rookie season in 2022. It's the shortest lap time of the season which makes it feel relentless and because of this, one-lap pace has to be strong because the gaps will probably be smaller than on most circuits. We would like to continue fighting for points and, more than ever, will need to hit the ground running to continue to compete well with our rivals."

Steve Nielsen: "It has been a very intense start to the European segment of the season where we have been able to add more points to our season tally. Now we are well into this campaign we are beginning to see some patterns and trends up and down the field. On our side, we know where the strengths and weaknesses of our package are and the areas we need to focus on.

"Clearly, Qualifying is an area where we need to improve. That being said, even with cars out of place on the grid, we have recovered well on Sundays and been able to score points, which, ultimately, is what counts at each Grand Prix weekend. We will bring new items to the car at some of the upcoming races as we continue our push to improve performance.

""We look forward to Austria this weekend, our home race for title partner BWT before we head to Silverstone for Enstone's home Grand Prix the following week. It's a busy time and I know everyone at the team is motivated for more good results, not least Pierre and Franco who are doing a great job at the moment to tow the team game. They both want more from the package and it is up to us to keep finding improvements and allow them to flourish."