Pirelli’s choices
The second stage of the first hat-trick of consecutive races of the 2024 season takes place at the Spielberg circuit, where the Austrian Grand Prix is scheduled. Several peculiarities make the route unique in the entire world championship calendar. First of all, there are the lowest number of corners (10) and the fastest lap time while in terms of length its 4.318 kilometers places it in third place in this ranking behind Monaco (3.337 km) and Interlagos (4.309 km) . The circuit owned by Red Bull is second in the ranking of the tracks with the greatest difference in altitude: 63.5 meters of difference between the highest and lowest point, surpassed only by the 102.2 meters of Spa-Francorchamps.
As per tradition, Pirelli has selected for this event the softest trio of compounds in the 2024 range, composed of C3 as Hard, C4 as Medium and C5 as Soft. Spielberg has a somewhat aged asphalt and, consequently, a high roughness but the lateral forces exerted on the tires are decidedly lower than the seasonal average, resulting in overall very limited wear. Traction coming out of slow corners and braking stability are decisive factors for being competitive on this track. Particular attention must be paid to managing tire overheating, especially in the case of high temperatures: drivers who are unable to cool them adequately could in fact have difficulty defending themselves from opponents’ attacks, especially in the first and last sectors. An important factor will therefore also be the environmental temperature, with conditions traditionally being rather variable. In the last two editions the two-stop strategy was the fastest, favoring the use of Medium and Hard: last year no driver risked the Soft in the race.
Between present and history
Formula 1 in Austria has always had its home in this Styrian valley, with 37 races held on the circuit today known as the Red Bull Ring and one, in 1964, on a track designed on the runway of the Zeltweg military airport, distant in as the crow flies a few hundred metres. The Austrian Grand Prix reaches its thirty-seventh edition this weekend, divided into three periods. After the first race at Zeltweg, there was a cycle of races on the track known as Österreichring (1970-1987), one at the A1-Ring ( 1997-2003) and then found a new address, the Red Bull Ring, from 2014 onwards. In the two-year period 2020-2021, the two editions of the Styrian Grand Prix were also held here.
Despite not yet turning 27, Max Verstappen is already the driver with the most successes (4) in this race, to which must also be added a victory in the Styrian Grand Prix. There are a total of 25 drivers who have reached the top step of the podium at least once in Austria: of these, eleven (Max himself, Alain Prost, Alan Jones, Mika Hakkinen, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Emerson Fittipaldi, Niki Lauda, Nigel Mansell, Jacques Villeneuve and Lewis Hamilton) have at least one world title in their list. Among the teams, Ferrari and McLaren are the most victorious in the Austrian Grand Prix with six victories each, achieved by Mercedes in terms of number of victories on this track thanks to Hamilton’s victory in the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix.
Sprint is back
The Sprint weekend format returns to the Red Bull Ring for the third time this season, which includes a free practice session and Sprint qualifying on Friday and the Sprint race and qualifying for the Sunday afternoon Grand Prix on Saturday. It is the third time in a row, the first in 2022, that the format has been used at this event. To date, 14 Sprint races have been held and Max Verstappen has, for a change, taken the lion’s share of the wins with nine. Of the other winners – Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez, George Russell and Oscar Piastri – only the Finn has won more than once.
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