F1
Given the market developments, Sauber is pleased to have anticipated its decision to sign Hülkenberg
1
F1
The Salzburgring circuit prepares to host the Austrian Grand Prix
The WTCC had held several rounds in the 2010s in Austria. © DPPI
You only know one circuit located in Austria, the Red Bull Ring? Then you forgot the Salzburgring! We grant you, it is not the most famous route in Europe. But the track inaugurated in 1968 is very popular with track enthusiasts and the ambitions of the director of the sports facility located east of Salzburg are very high following modernization work carried out in the first half of 2024.
“We now have a completely new, fully digitalized race control system, said Ernst Penninger on the German site Motorsport Total. We finished it in April and it has been fully functional since May.
Technically we are on the same level as Spielberg, but with newer technology, because the camera technology is newer, he added. We are more modern than many other circuits DTM and we would have no problem welcoming the Formula 1 Today. » Just that !
In addition to adapting the race director's room to the most modern techniques, the entrance to the stands has been widened. In addition, the pit exit will also be expanded by autumn. “There would then be no reason why the DTM could not run here,” adds Ernst Penninger.
If the DTM, which has not yet announced its 2025 calendar, could make its return there after a single visit in 1987, the prospect of seeing single-seaters tumbling on this fast 4,241 km track is illusory. Indeed, the Salzburgring remains classified in the Grade 3 category by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, while the Red Bull Ring, which has hosted the Austrian Grand Prix since 2014, has Grade 1, the highest. Furthermore, the Salzburgring is not owned by a powerful company sponsoring the best F1 team. And above all, the contract linking F1 to the Red Bull Ring has been extended until… 2030!
ALSO READ > Austrian Grand Prix extended until 2030
In the meantime, the Salzburgring hosted the TCR Europe and the Formula 2024 CEZ in 4. At the global level, the defunct WTCC went there between 2012 and 2014 and the F2 between 1972 and 1976. On two wheels, the MotoGP competed in several Austrian Grands Prix there between 1971 and 1994.
Medhi Casaurang
Passionate about the history of motorsport across all disciplines, I learned to read thanks to AUTOhebdo. At least that's what my parents tell everyone when they see my name inside!
Continue reading on these topics:
Read also
Yves-Henri RANDIER
13/08/2024 at 07:09 a.m.
A fast track with 2 turns which could be made faster by emphasizing the banking side as at Zandvoort but considering the lap times of a GT3 Cup, an F1 should find around a minute, or even below, so circuit too short to dethrone Zeltweg and Red Bull