The World Championship at altitude for the return of the sprint

It’s time for the Austrian Grand Prix, the second race of the first triple-header of the season, taking place as usual at the Spielberg circuit, which sits at almost 700 metres above sea level. It’s a picturesque location in the Styrian hills and it hosts a noisy crowd, keen to show its support for Red Bull Racing, the only Austrian-licensed team on the grid, although other teams and drivers are also popular and with the track’s proximity to Italy, there are plenty of Scuderia Ferrari HP flags waving in the grandstands. This weekend sees the return of the Sprint format for the third time this season.

The track. Spielberg is one of the shortest tracks on the calendar, at just 4.318 kilometres in length, with an average lap time of little over a minute. Since 1997, the current configuration has replaced the famous Österreichring, built in the Seventies. It now features just ten corners with three consecutive DRS zones, aimed at providing plenty of passing opportunities in the first two sectors. Overtaking is possible at turn 1, but usually it’s better to wait until the long climb to turn 3, making the most of the fact that the drivers have to brake uphill and then to make use of the tight angle of the corner to turn the car and get ahead with better traction going into turn 4, where there is then an opportunity for the car behind to counter attack. Braking downhill into the last right hand turn leading onto the start-finish line presents another overtaking opportunity.

The weather factor. The Styrian hillside location means that the weather is always very unpredictable in Spielberg. It can be brilliant sunshine one moment followed by a torrential downpour the next, so drivers and strategists must be prepared for any eventuality.

Programme. The return of the Sprint format, means things get serious right from Friday. The one and only free practice session starts at 12.30 CEST, followed by Sprint qualifying at 16.30. On Saturday, the drivers tackle the 23 lap Sprint Race at noon, before switching their attention to qualifying for the Grand Prix at 16.00. The 71 lap race gets underway on Sunday at 15.00.

Fred Vasseur
Team Principal Scuderia Ferrari HP

The upgrades introduced in Spain worked as expected, but clearly our competitors have not been twiddling their thumbs, and at the moment there are four teams all within less than three tenths of one another. Now we have Austria, a track that takes just a little over a minute to lap, so that those aforementioned gaps could become even smaller. We will be focusing completely on ourselves, because in Spielberg each tiny detail can make a difference. This weekend also sees the return of the Sprint format, so the work carried out back in Maranello becomes even more significant, as there is only one hour of free practice prior to qualifying. Everyone in the team, including the drivers, must be on top of their game to ensure we don’t miss any opportunities that come our way. That applies to qualifying, especially when up against such strong opponents and also in terms of how we execute the race. I want to see us step up a gear in Austria.

FERRARI STATS

GP contested 1084

Seasons in F1 75

Debut Monaco 1950 (A. Ascari 2nd; R. Sommer 4th; L. Villoresi ret.)

Wins 245 (22.60%)

Pole positions 250 (23.06%)

Fastest laps 261 (24.08%)

Podiums 816 (25.09%)

 

FERRARI STATS AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX

GP contested 35

Debut 1964 (L. Bandini 1st; J. Surtees ret.)

Wins 6 (17.14%)

Pole positions 8 (22.86%)

Fastest laps 5 (14.28%)

Podiums 28 (26.67%)

A SHORT ANALYSIS OF THE FIRST TEN RACES OF 2024

The Spanish Grand Prix saw the number of races so far this year reach double figures, a good moment therefore for a brief look at the season so far and a comparison with the same 10 race period in 2023. It’s a fact that last year after the summer break, Scuderia Ferrari HP’s performance took an upward turn, producing better results, a trend that has carried over into this year. A quick look at the numbers backs this up. All relevant data points are up with the exception of the number of pole positions, which remains the same, at one. Both courtesy of Charles Leclerc, in Baku last year and in his home race, Monaco, this time.

Two wins to zero. After ten races last year, the number of wins was a rather sad zero. Later in the season, Carlos Sainz would go on to take the team’s only victory of the year in Singapore. As of today, the 2024 tally is 2, courtesy of Sainz in Australia and Leclerc who took that truly memorable and long-awaited home win in Monaco. There’s also a significant 350% increase in the number of podium placings, up from 2 to 9.

Points and gaps. The obvious effect of the figures above is a much bigger points total than at this time last year, an increase of 72% from 157 to 270, with an average per race that’s gone from 15.7 to 27. The net result of this figure is that the position on the Constructors’ Championship chart is also better – fourth last year, second now for Scuderia Ferrari HP, 60 points behind Red Bull Racing, whereas last year the gap was 254, or 76% more. It’s still not enough, but the start of the season has lived up to expectations.

AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX: FACTS & FIGURES

8. The number of countries that border Austria, generally considered the nation that sits absolutely at the centre of Europe. Its neighbours are Germany, with which it shares a 784 kilometre long border, Italy (4330), Hungary (366), the Czech Republic (362), Slovenia (330), Switzerland (164), Slovakia (91) and Liechenstein (35). Only Russia and Germany have more neighbours with 14 and nine respectively.

80. The percentage of electricity generated by renewable energy in Austria. Contributing to this figure is the mountainous nature of the country, with plenty of dams, ideal for the creation of hydroelectric plants.

1905. The year in which Austrian Bertha von Suttner became the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Born in Prague, then part of the Austrian Empire, she was a writer and activist who travelled the world. She was also the second ever woman to win a Nobel prize, the first being the scientist Marie Curie.

1955. The year in which Austria gained independence. At the end of the Second World War, following the defeat of the Nazis, Austria was ruled by the Allies up until 1955. It was granted its independence on 27th July that year, on condition that it remained neutral between the western and eastern blocs. After the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, Austria became increasingly involved in Europe, joining the European Union in 1995 and adopting the Euro in 1999.

2353. The number of kilometres that a Ferrari has led the Austrian Grand Prix, equivalent to 515 laps, more than any other team. The Maranello marque has a great track record in Spielberg. It shares the record for the most wins, on six, equal with McLaren, it leads the classification for pole positions on eight, podiums 28 and points 374.5.