A Long (and Short) History
Formula One first visited Austria in 1964, at Zeltweg, but the airfield track only stayed on the calendar for one year. When it returned in 1970, there was a new home – the 5.9km Österreichring, a longer version of the track we know today.
The circuit stayed on the schedule in 1987 and played host to Austrian legend Niki Lauda’s one and only home Grand Prix win in 1984.
Two years prior, Elio de Angelis pipped Keke Rosberg to the chequered flag by 0.050s which, at the time, was the second-closest finish in the sports’ history.
It would be 10 years before F1 returned, and when it did the circuit had a new look, and name. The shorter 4.3km A1 Ring hosted seven races before dropping from the calendar again in 2003. It would not return again until 2014.
Re-badged as the Red Bull Ring, the layout has been a successful hunting ground for the Three-Pointed Star. With seven wins, no team has won more races than Mercedes at the circuit in its current guise.
Across the entire history of the event, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes are all tied for most Austrian Grand Prix wins with six.
Nico Rosberg led home a Mercedes 1-2 from Lewis Hamilton in 2014, and the same result was repeated a year later.
The 2014 race was also special for Toto, who watched MB Power claim a 1-2-3-4 with Valtteri Bottas’ Williams completing the podium, and team-mate Felipe Massa in fourth.
Massa’s pole position that year was the only time Mercedes did not qualify P1 in 2014.
To this day, Toto calls that weekend in 2014 his favourite race in F1. The team left their mark on the circuit too, placing a Mercedes star through the nose of the metal bull statue that sits on the infield.