Round nine of the 2016 season takes formula one to the Red Bull Ring in Austria. The circuit has changed over the years since first race in the late 1960’s. Organically Called the Österreichring the circuit was built as the permanent home for racing to replace a Zeltweg Air Base a short distance away.
Both the circuits have one thing in common the beautiful back drop of the Styrian Mountains and the high speed fast flowing nature of the circuit. Which favour the Mercedes with Red Bull joking last season that they needed to add more corners if they were to win.
The race made headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2001 when Ferrari instructed Rubens Barrichello to cede his victory to Michael Schumacher. This prompted a ban on team orders.
Facts and figures
| Race | Großer Preis von Österreich |
| Venue | Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Styria, Austria |
| Circuit Lengths | 4.326 km (2.688 mi) |
| Laps | 71 |
| Race Distance | 307.146 km (190.848 mi) |
| Lap Record | 1:08.337 (Michael Schumacher, Ferrari F2003-GA, 2003) |
| Most wins drivers | Alain Prost (3) |
| Most wins (constructor) | McLaren (6) |
Event timetable
| Local | BST | |
| Friday | ||
| P1 | 10:00-11:30 | 09:00-10:30 |
| P2 | 14:00-15:30 | 13:00-14:30 |
| Saturday | ||
| P3 | 11:00-12:00 | 10:00-11:00 |
| Qualifying | 14:00-15:00 | 13:00-14:00 |
| Sunday | ||
| Race | 14:00-16:00 | 13:00-15:00 |
What happened in 2015?
Nico Rosberg held off his team-mate Lewis Hamilton who lost out after he made a bad start cutting his lead in the championship. But drama came straight away as two former world champions Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso crashed on the opening lap bringing out the safety car for five laps. Felipe Massa took advantage after Ferrari mess up Sebastian Vettel stop up to take a fortieth career podium
2015 vs 2014 Race Data
| P1 Fastest | P2 Fastest | P3 Fastest | Q1 Fastest | Q2 Fastest | Q3 Fastest | Race Time | Fastest Lap | |
| 2015 | 01:10.401 | 01:09.600 | 01:09.994 | 01:10.976 | 01:08.634 | 01:08.455 | 01:30:16.930 | 01:11.235 |
| -00:00.894 | +00:00.058 | +00:00.146 | +00:01.462 | -00:00.340 | -00:00.304 | -03:01.954 | -00:00.907 | |
| 2014 | 01:11.295 | 01:09.542 | 01:09.848 | 01:09.514 | 01:08.974 | 01:08.759 | 01:27:54.976 | 01:12.142 |
Tyres
| Driver | Ultra soft | Super soft | Soft |
| HAMILTON | 8 | 3 | 2 |
| ROSBERG | 8 | 4 | 1 |
| Vettel | 9 | 3 | 1 |
| RAIKKONEN | 9 | 3 | 1 |
| BOTTAS | 7 | 5 | 1 |
| MASSA | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| RICCARDO | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| VERSTAPPEN | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| MAGNUSSEN | 9 | 2 | 2 |
| PLAMER | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| HULKENBERG | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| PEREZ | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| KYVAT | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| SAINZ | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| BUTTON | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| ALONSO | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| ERICSSON | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| NASR | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| WEHRLIN | 8 | 4 | 1 |
| HARYNATO | 8 | 4 | 1 |
| GROSJEAN | 6 | 5 | 2 |
| GUTIERREZ | 6 | 5 | 2 |
