THE 2021 STYRIAN GRAND PRIX
ROUND 8. 25th – 27th June.
1043rd F1 GRAND PRIX | 2nd STRYIAN GRAND PRIX | 34th GRAND PRIX AT RED BULL RING
2020 POLESITTER: LEWIS HAMILTON | 2020 WINNER: LEWIS HAMILTON
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday 25th June
Free Practice 1 (11:30am Local Time/ 10:30am UK Time)
Free Practice 2 (3pm Local Time/ 2pm UK Time)
Saturday 26th June
Free Practice 3 (12pm Local Time/ 11am UK Time)
Qualifying (3pm Local Time/ 2pm UK Time)
Sunday 27th June
The 2021 Styrian Grand Prix (3pm Local Time/ 2pm UK Time)
WEEKEND MILESTONES
- This weekend, Kimi Raikkonen will overtake Romain Grosjean as the driver to have made the most race starts with a single car number.
READ MORE IN MILESTONES AND RECORDS TO BREAK
WEEKEND NOTES
The grass verge on the right-hand side between Turn 2 and Turn 3 has been reduced and replaced with gravel.
The barrier on the right at Turn 3 has been extended towards the apex.
Information about the upcoming race weekend, such as DRS zones and track changes, will be added here.
RED BULL RING TRACK GUIDE
Situated in the remote but breathtaking Styrian mountains, the track now known as the Red Bull Ring returned to the F1 calendar in 2014. With lap times of just over a minute, the circuit has been changed a lot over the years yet has maintained a nostalgic spark.
In 1958, a temporary circuit was set up on the military airfield in Zeltweg. The course, inspired by the way in which the iconic Silverstone circuit came into being, was marked out by hay bales and raced on in a non-chmpionship F1 event in 1963, before stepping up as an official round of the championship in 1964. The track surface, however, was far too bumpy and abrasive for F1 machinery, and the sport never returned to the circuit.
Instead, six years later, Formula 1 settled at a track just up the valley from the airfield, named the Osterreichring. The track was around double the length of the Zeltweg airfield track, and was tremendously fast, with flowing bends which swept through the mountainous surroundings. With not much run-off area the track was dangerous, as proven by the 1975 race where a series of accidents marred the practice sessions. At the Hella-Licht curve, the first turn on the track, American racer Mark Donohue crashed through the catch-fencing, ultimately leading to his death and the death of a marshal. Changes were made to the track following the event, and a chicane was added making the former fastest corner on the track become the slowest.
READ MORE IN OUR ULTIMATE TRACK GUIDE
PRESS CONFERENCE SCHEDULES
The world’s media will have the opportunity to talk to the drivers on the Thursday before the race. All 20 drivers will appear in the press conferences at the Styrian Grand Prix, which will take place virtually.
The media will also be talking to prominent members of Formula 1’s teams on Friday. The team members appearing in the Teams’ Press Conference for this race weekend are Toto Wolff (Mercedes), Christian Horner (Red Bull), Otmar Szafnauer (Aston Martin) and Zak Brown (McLaren).
DRIVER STEWARD
Each weekend a former Formula 1 driver, or a driver from another prominent series of motorsport, joins the stewards to help judge any incidents from a drivers’ perspective. The Driver Steward this weekend is Emanuele Pirro.
WEATHER FORECAST
The weather forecast for the week ahead at the circuit currently looks like this:
[wpc-weather id=”4323″/]
TYRE SELECTIONS
In 2021, each team will be supplied with the same selection of tyres by Pirelli: two sets of hard compounds, three sets of medium compounds and eight sets of soft compounds. Pirelli will supply the C2, C3 and C4 compounds for this race weekend.
2020 STYRIAN GP RECAP
Lewis Hamilton was peerless at the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix, taking pole by over a second in wet conditions and claiming a comfortable win ahead of his team-mate.
For the first time in Formula 1 history, the Red Bull Ring hosted two races on consecutive weekends, with the second race titled the Styrian Grand Prix. The second weekend was held in contrasting conditions to the first. Rain on Saturday saw Free Practice 3 cancelled, while qualifying was held in wet conditions. The adverse conditions allowed George Russell to reach Q2 for the first time in his career, while Lewis Hamilton dominated the final session and took pole by over a second. Max Verstappen lined up alongside Hamilton on the front row, while Carlos Sainz qualified a career-best third. The order remained the same on the first lap, while further back the two Ferrari drivers collided, resulting in a double DNF for the Scuderia in what was fast becoming a season to forget. Hamilton was not challenged for the victory and took a comfortable win ahead of his team-mate, who had raced Verstappen hard for second place. Behind the front three, a battle for fourth place between Alex Albon and Sergio Perez very nearly resulted in Albon colliding with a driver in the same spot as he had done one week previously. Perez picked up front wing damage as a result. On the penultimate lap, in the fight for sixth place, Lance Stroll attempted an overtake on Daniel Ricciardo, resulting in both drivers running wide at Turn 3. Lando Norris took advantage of the situation to sweep by the duo. Stroll fought back, but Norris soon re-passed on the final lap. With Perez struggling with the damage to his wing, the McLaren was closing on the Racing Point, and Norris was able to secure fifth place at the penultimate corner.
2020 AUSTRIAN GP RECAP
The 2020 Formula 1 season began four months later than planned with the Austrian Grand Prix – a race which was well worth waiting for.
The coronavirus pandemic ended the Australian Grand Prix before the on-track action had even begun and went on to decimate the opening half of the calendar, but the 2020 season finally began at the start of July with the Austrian Grand Prix. It was a familiar order at the front in qualifying, with Mercedes securing the two fastest times. Valtteri Bottas brought out the yellow flags in Q3 with a trip across the grass, but had already done enough to secure pole position. Bottas’ off caused problems for Lewis Hamilton, who was handed a three-place grid penalty for failing to slow for the yellow flags. At the start, Bottas maintained his lead, with Max Verstappen and Lando Norris vying for second place. Hamilton was soon back up to second place, with his charge helped by engine issues for Verstappen, which saw him retire from the race. Ferrari had struggled for pace all weekend, and Sebastian Vettel compounded those problems with a spin after trying to pass Carlos Sainz. The Ferrari driver dropped to the back of the field as a result. Further retirements followed for Daniel Ricciardo, Lance Stroll and Kevin Magnussen, before George Russell brought out the Safety Car as he broke down with 20 laps of the race remaining. At the restart, Kimi Raikkonen lost a wheel, bringing out the Safety Car once more. With ten laps to go, Alex Albon – on fresher tyres having pitted under the Safety Car – attempted an overtake on Hamilton for second place. The pair collided, and Albon fell down the order. Charles Leclerc moved into an unlikely third position – which would become second following a five-second time penalty for Hamilton, who was deemed to have caused the collision with Albon. Hamilton’s penalty promoted Norris into third place, recording the first podium finish of his career. Norris set the Fastest Lap on the final lap of the race, allowing him to close to within five seconds of the Mercedes driver. Nicholas Latifi, the only rookie in the field, was last to cross the line and finished the race eleventh, just outside of the points.
FASTEST EVER LAP
RECENT FASTEST LAPS IN EACH SESSION
| Session | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 (Austria) | 2020 (Styria) |
| Free Practice 1 | 1:05.975 (Lewis Hamilton) | 1:04.839 (Lewis Hamilton) | 1:04.838 (Lewis Hamilton) | 1:04.816 (Lewis Hamilton) | 1:04.867 (Sergio Perez) |
| Free Practice 2 | 1:05.483 (Lewis Hamilton) | 1:04.579 (Lewis Hamilton) | 1:05.086 (Charles Leclerc) | 1:04.304 (Lewis Hamilton) | 1:03.660 (Max Verstappen) |
| Free Practice 3 | 1:05.092 (Sebastian Vettel) | 1:04.070 (Sebastian Vettel) | 1:03.987 (Charles Leclerc) | 1:04.130 (Lewis Hamilton) | – |
| Qualifying | 1:04.251 (Valtteri Bottas) | 1:03.130 (Valtteri Bottas) | 1:03.003 (Charles Leclerc) | 1:02.939 (Valtteri Bottas) | 1:19.273 (Lewis Hamilton) |
| Grand Prix | 1:07.441 (Lewis Hamilton) | 1:06.957 (Kimi Raikkonen) | 1:07.475 (Max Verstappen) | 1:07.475 (Lando Norris) | 1:05.619 (Carlos Sainz) |