How Red Bull helped get F1 back on track
When the running gets under way at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, it’s worth considering how important the name above the door at the Red Bull Ring has been to getting the 2020 Formula 1 season going.
By mid-april, the COVID-19 pandemic had forced the cancellation or postponement of 10 races – each loss a blow to anyone missing the joyful break it offers from ‘normal’ life, which had of course been utterly disrupted for so many.
But thanks to the comparatively low number of coronavirus cases in the country (it has had
702 deaths at the time of writing), Austria was able to exit its lockdown much earlier than some other
European nations. Eventually, the Austrian GP was the next question mark on the calendar, but it has in fact retained its expected date slot. What has changed is the addition of a second race at the Red Bull Ring that has been assigned the title Styrian Grand Prix. Both events, and the following races in Hungary, Britain, Spain, Belgium and Italy, will take place behind closed doors.
The Red Bull Ring is an ideal setting for F1 to get used to the new ways of working, particularly regarding social and physical distancing.
The circuit is located in Austria’s picturesque Styrian state, well away from major urban areas – the nearest is Graz, over 40 miles away. There are seven nearby hotels dedicated to the Projekt Spielberg initiative, which means F1’s ‘biosphere’ can be contained in a relatively small area.
“Quite early in the shutdown, as circuits were falling by the wayside, there was a determination within Red Bull to host the race, and then quite rapidly it became the opening race,” says Christian Horner. “And as Red Bull owns the facility and has built and developed it, it was really [Red Bull boss] Dietrich Mateschitz’s vision and commitment that enabled it to happen. And it’s effectively become a blueprint which others could follow. It’s exciting for us to be having not just one but two races in Austria and to be kicking off the championship.”
When asked how the discussions with the Austrian government, F1 itself and the FIA had developed regarding the Red Bull Ring races, Horner explains that it’s been a joint effort.
“It was a matter of working with the government, with F1 and the governing body and getting the confidence that it could be managed safely and securely,” he says. “Red Bull worked very hard on that over the past couple of months , well supported by the government and Liberty and the governing body.”
The plans to keep
F1’s (reduced) paddock personnel safe during the campaign will be regularly reviewed, so expect more tweaks after this weekend. But once the lights go out at the start of Sunday’s race, some normality at least will return. A good thing, then, that the Red Bull Ring usually provides plenty of talking points.
“It can produce good races; the weather can be variable as well,” says Horner. “The chances of both races being dry is optimistic. It’s got the ability to produce a thriller.”
“Red Bull worked hard on it, well supported by the government and Liberty and the governing body”