The Austrian Grand Prix () is a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile sanctioned motor racing event that was held in , –, and –. It returned to the Formula One calendar in , where it has remained since. It was first held at the Zeltweg Air Base for its first, non-Championship running. Since 1970, the race has been held at the Österreichring, currently known as the Red Bull Ring due to its ownership by the Austrian drinks company of the same name.
Ever since it returned to the calendar, the Austrian Grand Prix is typically held during the mid-season rounds of the Formula One World Championship, with one exception: the Austrian Grand Prix was held as the season opener in , the only time in its history this has happened, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns disrupting the season. Also in 2020, an additional race, held also at the Red Bull Ring, was added to the calendar called the Styrian Grand Prix. It was held twice, facilitating a double-header to maximise the number of Grands Prix during seasons that were affected by the pandemic. Following a 16-year extension, Formula One is set to race in Austria until 2041.
History The Austrian Grand Prix has been held at two different locations in southeastern Austria, being originally held in Zeltweg, about west of Graz. Since 1969 the Austrian Grand Prix has taken place in neighbouring Spielberg, with the two venues being within approximately of each other. It was first held at the Zeltweg Air Base for six years, before a permanent track, originally called the Österreichring and later known as the A-1 ring and Red Bull Ring, was built.
Zeltweg Airfield circuit
A non-championship event was held in 1963 at a race track on the Zeltweg Airfield and it was won by Australian Jack Brabham. The first championship event took place in the following year, and Italian Lorenzo Bandini won his only Formula One championship race in a Ferrari. The race was a success, but the track was deemed too dangerous; it was narrow and very bumpy, and spectators complained of poor viewing areas. The FIA removed the race from the F1 calendar until a suitable track was built.
The event was run in 1965 as a non-championship sports car race, the Zeltweg 200 Miles, before being adopted by the World Sportscar Championship from 1966 to 1969 as the 1000 km Zeltweg.
Österreichring
From 1970 until 1987, the event was held at the Österreichring (translated literally as "Austria circuit", also located near Zeltweg). It was built in the scenic Styrian mountains and it was a fast, flowing track where every corner was high speed and long. The Austrian Grand Prix was designated the European Grand Prix once, 1975, when this title was an honorary designation given each year to one Grand Prix race in Europe. The very fast track was popular with drivers, and the events were moderately successful. The first race on this track was dominated by Ferrari, with their more powerful Flat-12 engines enabled them to be 10 mph faster – which is a lot in racing terms. The 1971 race saw Swiss driver Jo Siffert dominate in his BRM and Briton Jackie Stewart took his second Drivers' Championship. The 1975 event was marred by the fatal accident of American Mark Donohue, and the race itself was rain-soaked and was won by Vittorio Brambilla, winning the only F1 race of his career, and, true to form, he crashed into the guardrail and broke the nose of his car shortly after crossing the finish line when the race was stopped early because the rain got worse (although the race started after 1 hour and 15 minutes of delay, due the heavy rain, with the drivers doing extra practice during this time). In 1976, home favourite Niki Lauda's appalling crash at the Nürburgring caused him to miss the race, which was won by Briton John Watson in the short-lived Penske F1 team, winning his first Formula One race (and Penske's only win in the category).
1976 had seen the Voest-Hugel corner changed slightly into one corner instead of two corners; but 1977 saw a slow three-corner chicane installed at Voest-Hugel, which was where Donohue had crashed two years before. What was the fastest corner on the track was now the slowest corner there and would become known as the Hella-Licht Chicane. This race was won by Australian Alan Jones in a Shadow; and like with Brambilla and Watson, it was his first Grand Prix victory. 1978 saw the dominant Lotus 79s on the front row, and American Mario Andretti crashed at the Glatz Kurve on the first lap, and his teammate, Swede Ronnie Peterson took victory. 1979 started to show the superiority of turbo-charged engines on this fast and high-altitude circuit. Although Jones won again in a Williams, Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Rene Arnoux in their Renaults were able to dominate this event and also the following year's race, which Jabouille won. 1981 saw three turbo-charged cars dominate the front row; and into the race, the immense power and dreadful handling of Didier Pironi's Ferrari helped him to hold up four better handling cars and get into a five-way battle for third place, which went on for a while but the four cars eventually passed him, one of which was Jacques Laffite who went on to win the race. 1982 saw a spectacular show in which five turbocharged cars dominated the grid; all but one of these cars retired with mechanical problems, including Italian Riccardo Patrese who had a spectacular accident at the Texaco Bends, and Frenchman Alain Prost whose engine expired with a few laps to go while in the lead. After Prost's retirement, the race turned into a dead-heat sprint between Italian Elio de Angelis in a Lotus and Finn Keke Rosberg in a Williams. In the beginning, Rosberg had been steadily chipping away at de Angelis; but after Prost retired, Rosberg began to make up 1.5 seconds a lap on de Angelis; and on the last lap the two so-far winless drivers battled for victory, and de Angelis was able to hold off Rosberg and win by less than half a car's length; 0.05 seconds. 1984 saw Lauda finally take victory at home Grand Prix in his McLaren, and Prost won the next two races. The 1985 race saw a fearsome crash at the Panorama Curve when Andrea de Cesaris spectacularly rolled his Ligier, which led to him being fired from the team. 1986 saw Austrian driver Gerhard Berger lead the early laps in his Benetton-BMW, but electrical problems saw his race ruined allowing Alain Prost to take the win by over a lap from the Ferraris of Michele Alboreto and Stefan Johansson.
The 1987 race was restarted twice due to accidents on the narrow pit-straight grid; and this track was also deemed too dangerous by FIA standards, because of the number of high-speed corners, lack of protection from trees and embankments and accidents at the start of many races on the narrow and confined pit straight. Increasing speeds were also a growing problem at the Österreichring: that year, polesitter Nelson Piquet averaged 159.457 mph (255.756 km/h) in his 1,100 hp Honda-powered Williams. Piquet finished second to his teammate, Briton Nigel Mansell. Attempts to bring the race back were unsuccessful, and the event disappeared for a decade.
A1-Ring
In 1995 and 1996, the Österreichring was refurbished and brought up to date, which allowed the race to run again in 1997. Since the track, which was renamed A1-Ring after a sponsor, is located on the municipal territory of Spielberg, Spielberg was now given as the site of the Grand Prix. The whole layout was redesigned by Hermann Tilke, and the track lost all of its long, sweeping corners, aside from the Texaco Bends (which were made shorter and slower) and the Hella-Licht chicane, Flatschach, Dr. Tiroch curve and the first half of the backstretch run up to where the Bosch-Kurve was taken out and replaced with a bypass that went directly to the second half of the fast, uphill backstretch. The 2002 event received negative publicity after Ferrari instructed Rubens Barrichello to cede his victory to Michael Schumacher. It was a mainstay on the calendar until hosting its final race in 2003.
Red Bull Ring
In July 2013, it was reported that the circuit's new owners Red Bull GmbH had reached an agreement with Bernie Ecclestone to revive the Austrian Grand Prix after a ten-year absence from the calendar. The race was given a provisional date of July 2014. On 6 December, the officially released calendar included the Austrian Grand Prix on it. Formula One is set to race at the venue until 2041.
Winners By year
A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.
Year Driver Constructor Location Report Jack Brabham Brabham-Climax Zeltweg Airfield Report Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari Zeltweg Airfield Report 1965 Jochen Rindt Ferrari Zeltweg Airfield Report 1966 Gerhard Mitter Hans Herrmann Porsche Report 1967 Paul Hawkins Ford Report 1968 Jo Siffert Porsche Report 1969 Jo Siffert Kurt Ahrens Jr. Porsche Österreichring Report Jacky Ickx FerrariÖsterreichring Report Jo Siffert BRM Report Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford Report Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford Report Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford Report Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford Report John Watson Penske-Ford Report Alan Jones Shadow-Ford Report Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford Report Alan Jones Williams-Ford Report Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault Report Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra Report Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford Report Alain Prost Renault Report Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG Report Alain Prost McLaren-TAG Report Alain Prost McLaren-TAG Report Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda Report 1988–1996 Not held due to safety concerns with the Österreichring Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault A1-Ring Report Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes Report Eddie Irvine Ferrari Report Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes Report David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes Report Michael Schumacher Ferrari Report Michael Schumacher Ferrari Report 2004–2013 Not held Nico Rosberg Mercedes Red Bull Ring Report Nico Rosberg Mercedes Report Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Report Valtteri Bottas Mercedes Report Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer Report Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda Report Valtteri Bottas Mercedes Report Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda Report Charles Leclerc Ferrari Report Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT Report George Russell Mercedes Report Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes Report George RussellMercedesReportSources:
Repeat winners (drivers) Drivers in bold are competing in the Formula One championship in 2026. A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.
Wins Driver Years won 4 Max Verstappen 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023 3 Jo Siffert 1968, 1969*, 1971 Alain Prost 1983, 1985, 1986 2 Ronnie Peterson 1973, 1978 Alan Jones 1977, 1979 Mika Häkkinen 1998, 2000 Michael Schumacher 2002, 2003 Nico Rosberg 2014, 2015 Valtteri Bottas 2017, 2020 George Russell 2024, 2026Sources: * Shared win with Kurt Ahrens Jr.
Repeat winners (constructors) Teams in bold are competing in the Formula One championship in 2026. A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.
Wins ConstructorYears won7 Ferrari 1964, 1965, 1970, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2022 McLaren 1984, 1985, 1986, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2025 Mercedes 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2024, 2026 4 Lotus 1972, 1973, 1978, 1982 Red Bull 2018, 2019, 2021, 20233 Porsche 1966, 1968, 1969 Williams 1979, 1987, 1997 2 Brabham 1963, 1974 Renault 1980, 1983Sources:
Repeat winners (engine manufacturers) Manufacturers in bold are competing in the Formula One championship in 2026. A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.