Austrian GP Facts & Figures

By Andrew Hooper
May 9 2003

	Facts & Figures
	* The A1-Ring, near the city of Spielberg, is located in an idyllic part of Styria which is popular among tourists. The province, in the south east of Austria, has a population of 1.2 million, and Graz is its capital. * In 1964, Formula One staged a one-off appearance at the military airfield of Zeltweg. From 1970 to 1987, 18 Grands Prix were run on the Österreich-Ring, famous for its spectacularly fast corners. Formula One then bade farewell to Austria for ten years, only to return in 1997 when the new A1-Ring had been built. This year's race will be the 26th Austrian Grand Prix and the seventh to be held on the A1-Ring. * WilliamsF1 claimed its first victory in Styria in 1979, with Alan Jones behind the wheel of a Ford powered FW07. Nigel Mansell secured the team's second Austrian victory in 1987 driving the FW11B in the Honda era and, in 1997, Jacques Villeneuve claimed the inaugural win at the A1-Ring's debut driving a Williams Renault FW19. * Accidents, retirements and two safety cars characterised the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix. After 71 exciting laps, Juan Pablo Montoya crossed the finishing line in third place behind the Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. Ralf Schumacher finished just 0.7 seconds behind Montoya. * Barrichello qualified for pole position in 1:08.082. Race winner Michael Schumacher claimed the fastest race lap at 1:09.298, setting a new lap record. * The 2003 Austrian Grand Prix will start at 14:00 hrs on Sunday 18th May. The race will cover 71 laps of 4.326 km, equating to a race distance of 307.146 kilometres.