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The Austrian Grand Prix has a curious history, because it has visited three circuits of different names, yet two are on the same site and the third less than a mile away. The first Austrian Grand Prix was held in 1964 on the airfield at Zeltweg, south of Vienna. It had been preceded by a Formula One race the previous year, but competitors at the Grand Prix found the circuit incredibly bumpy. Two factors marked the Grand Prix: the Grand Prix debut of one Jochen Rindt in a Brabham-BRM, and a very fiery accident for Phil Hill.
The airfield continued to be used for sports cars but not for Formula One, but Jochen Rindt's continued success encouraged the locals to build a new circuit, the Osterreichring, less than a mile away, in the foothills of nearby mountains. It hosted its first Formula One race in 1970 which, ironically, was the last Grand Prix appearance of Jochen Rindt, who was killed three weeks later during practice for the Italian Grand Prix, winning the World title posthumously.
However, his mantle was taken up a year later by Niki Lauda, who made his Grand Prix debut at the Osterreichring in 1971. Later that decade, there were several surprises, not always pleasant. Mark Donohue died of injuries sustained in the warm-up in 1975, the soaking wet race won by Vittorio Brambilla thanks to a judicious tyre choice, but the Italian March driver promptly crashed after taking the chequered flag of the shortened race.
John Watson won for Penske in 1976 and Alan Jones for Shadow a year later. In 1982, Elio de Angelis got to the finishing line just 0.050s ahead of an ever-closing Keke Rosberg to record the third closest finish in Grand Prix history. Two years later, Gerhard Berger made his Grand Prix debut at the circuit, and let's not forget 1987 when Nigel Mansell was nearly knocked out by an iron gantry as he was driven to the podium.
It was that farcical race which spelt the end of Austrian Grand Prix for ten years. It took three attempts to get the race started after two startline crashes. After that, the FIA demanded that the circuit be widened at the start, but even so, it wasn't for another ten years that Formula One returned to the track.
By then it had been shortened from its majestic 3.692 miles to 2.686 miles, cutting out several of the favoured fast bends and incorporating tight first and second corners plus a name change from Osterreichring to A1-Ring(A1 being a mobile 'phone network) and magically moving from the town of Zeltweg (which hadn't contributed financially) to the smaller village of Spielberg (which had).
The opening of the circuit in 1997 coincided with the emergence of Austria's latest Grand Prix star, Alexander Wurz, although it would be a year until he actually raced there. He became Austria's 12th Grand Prix driver (plus two who never qualified). Included are the two World Champions, Jochen Rindt and Niki Lauda, while Harald Ertl, Jo Gartner, Helmut Koinigg and Roland Ratzenberger are sadly no longer with us. The careers of Helmut Marko and Karl Wendlinger were sadly touched by serious accidents, leaving Gerhard Berger, Hans Binder, Dieter Quester and Alexander Wurz.
The A1-Ring continued as part of the Formula One world Championship until 2004, when F1 supremo dropped it from the calendar as a result of the government's stance on Tobacco.
Sadly, despite some of the many great races we've witnessed in Austria, it is the 2002 event - when Rubens Barrichello sensationally pulled aside, under team orders, to give victory to teammate Michael Schumacher - that is uppermost in our minds.
Sadly, it is unlikely that the A1-Ring will host another Grand Prix. Red Bull owner, Dietrich Mateschitz, who had grand plans for the track, was thwarted by local people who objected to his plans and successfully petitioned the local council. Consequently, the circuit will feature a museum, a hotel and all manner of other attractions, but, sadly, no F1 race.
This is in spite of the fact that Austria now has its own F1 team, following Red Bull's purchase of Jaguar Racing.
A lap of the A1-Ring with McLaren test driver, and local hero, Alexander Wurz
"The lap of the A1-Ring starts with the uphill section leading into Castrol Kurve. Although quite a long straight, the hill serves to limit the speed to just over 185 mph (300 kph) before braking for the first comer which is taken in 2nd gear at around 115 mph (70 kph).
Traction out of this comer is important as it leads on to the long straight down to the tight Remus Kurve. At the end of this straight I will be doing about 190 mph (310 kph) before braking very hard down to first gear, you have to use the kerbs to get round this comer well, but still maintain stability on to the short straight that follows.
Although the straight is quite short, it is slightly downhill and so I'll reach about 305kph before braking for the Gosser Kurve. This turn is taken in 2nd gear at around 55 mph (90 kph) and is quite a long corner, A short 5th gear straight where I reach about 170 mph (270 kph) leads into the two fast and very challenging left-hand comers, both of which are taken in 4th gear. The first, the Niki Lauda Kurve, at 90 mph (145 kph) and the second, the Power Horse Kurve, at 105 mph (170 kph).
A right-hand kink leads up the hill again and the cars will reach just under 185 mph (300kph) before entering the penultimate comer, Jochen Rindt Kurve, which is taken at around 120 mph (190 kph) in 4th gear. The final comer, the A1 Kurve is a 3rd gear corner taken at 90 mph (145 kph)
Despite the number of tight and medium corners, teams are likely to avoid high downforce and go for medium settings as the new track gives good grip."
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