The Austrian Grand Prix has had a sporadic spot in Formula 1 but has delivered some unforgettable moments, so F1 Oversteer has looked into five of the most iconic races.
F1 visited Styria for the debut Austrian GP as part of the world championship in 1964 after a test event a year prior. Since then, the round has fallen off and on the Formula 1 calendar as the Osterreichring required changes and passed through the hands of A1 and, now, Red Bull.
Austrian telecom brand A1 paid for much of the refurbishment to the Osterreichring after F1 canned the circuit owing to safety concerns in the 1990s. Red Bull even also invested heavily into upgrading the track’s facilities to land the Austrian GP’s return to F1 once again in 2014.
Hermann Tilke removed the Osterreichring’s iconic straights that swept through the Styrian mountains when redesigning the circuit the A1-Ring. He created a tighter track and created corners that have even yielded unforgettable moments in the Austrian GP’s modern history.
So, with that in mind, F1 Oversteer has looked at the five most iconic Austrian GP at the Red Bull Ring and its most unforgettable moments since the circuit first staged the race in 1970…
Vittorio Brambilla went from hero to zero after winning the 1975 Austrian GP
The 1975 Austrian GP produced one of the most unforgettable races the Osterreichring ever yielded as Vittorio Brambilla won for the first and only time in Formula 1. Yet the race nearly never happened that August day as officials considered calling it off due to the extreme rain.
Thunderclouds formed over the track ahead of the start of the race to force a late change to wet tyres. But the switch was not enough for Mario Andretti to avoid enduring an early spin. Brambilla, on the other hand, sailed through the spray and gained five spots on the first lap.
Only pole-sitter Niki Lauda and James Hunt ran ahead of Brambilla, yet two Formula 1 icons could not stop the Italian coming through. He got them both on Lap 15 to lead a Grand Prix for the first time in the March driver’s career. But the rain would only get harder and harder.
Eventually, officials stopped the 1975 Austrian GP just 29 laps through the scheduled 54. Yet it was enough to declare a result and Brambilla was a Grand Prix winner. But the drama was not over as by throwing his hands in the air to celebrate, the Italian span and ruined his car.
Elio de Angelis denied Keke Rosberg by 0.050s for Colin Chapman’s final win in F1
Turbo engines were the force to be reckoned with in the 1982 Formula 1 season as Renault and Brabham dominated. But technical problems blighted Alain Prost and Rene Arnoux plus Riccardo Patrese and Nelson Piquet Sr at the Austrian GP to force the four drivers to retire.
Their loss was very much Williams and Lotus’ gain as Keke Rosberg and Elio de Angelis took full advantage in their naturally aspirated vehicles. De Angelis assumed the lead of the race with five laps remaining as Prost suffered a mechanical issue while leading by half a minute.
Rosberg had already reduced a 10-second deficit to De Angelis after Piquet retired and sat just 1.6s back entering the final lap. Neither had won a Grand Prix at this point in either of their careers and De Angelis sliding out of the last corner offered Rosberg a chance to win.
De Angelis had weathered the Finn’s storm until they entered the Rindt Kurve. But he was not to be denied glory at the Osterreichring, even if Rosberg crossed the finish line a mere 0.050 seconds back. It was also to be Lotus founder Colin Chapman’s last win in Formula 1.
Martin Brundle sparked a multi-car pile-up at the start of the 1987 Austrian GP
For British fans of Formula 1, Martin Brundle is one of if not the modern voices of the sport. But he also entered 165 Grand Prix from 1984 until 1996 and took nine podiums. Yet it was not success that followed Brundle at the 1987 Austrian GP but chaos at the start of the race.
Piquet led the field of 26 cars away uneventfully when the green light came on. But as those drivers rose the steep hill that led to Turn 1, Brundle suddenly turned sharply to his left in the King’s Lynn native’s Zakspeed. His car smashed the barriers and brought out the red flag.
Debris scattered the road as Brundle’s crash sparked a multi-car pile-up with several further drivers caught up in his incident. Yet just Brundle’s car and those of Tyrrell’s Jonathan Palmer and Ligier’s Piercarlo Ghinzani were out of action. The trio all took the restart in their T-cars.
But the restarted race would also not get underway smoothly as Nigel Mansell botched his getaway. The Williams driver sat stationary on the grid as drivers scuttled to avoid another collision. Yet in taking avoid action, the rear of the field collided to trigger a second red flag.
This time Stefan Johansson’s McLaren, Eddie Cheever’s Arrows, Phillipe Streiff’s Tyrrell, Alex Caffi’s Osella and Ghinzani’s Ligier were all damaged beyond repair. Eventually, the Austrian GP got underway again but not without drama as Ayrton Senna stalled his Lotus on the grid.
Luckily, no drivers collected Senna before the marshals push-started the Brazilian. He would eventually recover to fifth place, albeit two laps off the lead, as Mansell won by a whopping 55.704 seconds in a Williams one-two with Piquet as the only ones to finish on the lead lap.
Ferrari’s controversial team orders saw Michael Schumacher win the 2002 Austrian GP
The Austrian GP of 2002 was a truly unforgettable race for Formula 1 around the then-called A1-Ring. But, thanks to Ferrari, it got a spot in the series’ history for all of the wrong reasons after the Scuderia’s team orders made Rubens Barrichello give Michael Schumacher the win.
Ferrari left zero room for imagination when they told Barrichello over the radio, ‘Let Michael pass for the championship’. The Brazilian had driven a superb race to hold Schumacher off in Styria. The German knew he did not merit it, too, so raised Barrichello’s arm on the podium.
Team orders were not banned in F1 at the time that Ferrari ordered Barrichello to pull aside, which he did on the run to the chequered flag. The Brazilian was under strict orders to help Schumacher in his title fight with Mika Hakkinen at all costs after he signed for the Scuderia.
But the FIA and F1 took such a dim look at the incident that team orders were banned from the 2003 season. Ferrari also did not need to issue team orders as the Austrian GP was only the sixth of 17 rounds in 2002, and Schumacher won the title by 67 points over Barrichello.
Nico Rosberg drove Lewis Hamilton off the circuit fighting to win the 2016 Austrian GP
Turn 3 of the current Red Bull Ring layout has produced a number of the most unforgettable Austrian GP moments since Tilke redesigned the Osterreichring. The uphill, right-hand bend saw David Coulthard spin his McLaren teammate, Hakkinen, out from the lead during 1999.
It even saw Juan Pablo Montoya briefly lose control of his Williams in 2001 to force him and Schumacher wide. While Takuma Sato was the unfortunate victim of a horror shunt in 2002 when the Japanese ace was viciously sideswiped by Nick Heidfeld’s out-of-control Sauber.
But while those incidents stemmed from errors, the Austrian GP produced an unforgettable moment in 2016. Nico Rosberg simply forgot how to turn his steering wheel, forcing himself and Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton off while fighting for the lead and the drivers’ title.
Hamilton was primed to pounce on Rosberg during the final lap of the 2016 Austrian GP. But the German sensed the Briton’s move coming as Hamilton positioned himself on the outside for the switchback. Yet Rosberg forcing them wide sparked contact that broke his front wing.
So, rather than winning or settling for second place, Rosberg limped to the finish line to take fourth place. Fans at the Red Bull Ring perplexing booed Hamilton on the podium. But home hero Lauda pointed the blame at Rosberg, who was also nursing his late-race brake problem.
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