What's up, Burschen und Madln?
Yes, as you might have guessed by now, I'm from Austria.
For the third time in a row it is my pleasure to present this wonderful circuit and its heritage to you all. After focussing on the layout itself in 2015 and the EURO Cup in 2016, this time around I would honestly struggle to find anything new to write about, if it wasn't for... you know what I'm talking about...
HOWEVER, as a grown-up (at least according to my biological age) I am fully aware that we have to have something nutritional before dessert. So, if you'll just bear with me, we can knock the spinach out and stick our naked asses in a golden corral chocolate fountain real soon.
The circuit
The circuit itself is, well, short. 8 corners, long straights, yadda, yadda, yadda. Seriously, blink and you'll miss a whole lap. Not much to talk about. For more info on it see this thread: http://forums.autosp...x/#entry7206316
The nominated compounds
The weather forecast
Looks like we're in for some showers on Saturday and Sunday.
The history
The circuit was built in 1969, although back then it was known as the "Österreichring" and guess what, it was 6km long! And fun. A lot more corners. This is killing me, I don't want to talk about this.
Anyway, here's some onboard footage from 1973:
If you're thinking "Wow, that's slow!" --> still faster than Palmer! *ticks Palmer-joke off his list*
In 1996 the circuit was shortened to 4,3 km. Austrian authorities realized that the old circuit was exceeding borders to three other countries, one of which was Germany and we all know how meticulous they are when it comes to transgressing frontiers. *ticks WWII-reference off his list*
Between 1997 and 2003 the so-called A1-Ring hosted 7 memorable races, some of which will stay in our minds for all the right
and some for all the wrong reasons:
My personal highlight was 1998, with Mika and Michael (and Giancarlo, at least at the beginning) fighting for positions at the front of the grid.
After an 11 year hiatus, the Austrian Grand Prix returned in all its glory. Under the ownership of Mr. Red Bull himself, fresh juices were pumped up the circuit's venes (see what I did there?) and the first race saw a cracking win from Mr. Rosberg, a cracking comeback from Mr. Hamilton and a crack in Mr. Kvyat's suspension.
2015 saw Nico winning the race at the start, Lewis crossing the pit exit line and Fernando and Kimi getting a tad too close to each other on the first lap, luckily both escaped any injuries other than a slightly deflated ego.
And then, 2016 happened. As in all previous years, it was a battle between the two Merc drivers. For the third time in a row, this time due to a better tyre-strategy, Nico found himself in front of Lewis in the race. Lewis, raging and on the harder but slightly better tyre, was pushing for all its worth until Nico's BBW failed which resulted in him making a bit of a boo boo in the first corner. Lewis got alongside him and as they approached T2 was already ahead of Nico, but on the outside. Nico then ignored that there was a right hand corner suffered from his previous BBW failure (which somehow prevented him from steering into the corner) (which resulted in him going extremely deep into the corner) and boom, the damage was done. On the one hand, it made their relationship more difficult and the tensions inside Mercedes were on the rise again, but then again, we got to witness the start of what has become a regular theme in the Merc garage:
Oh yeah Toto, keep banging that nasty table.
Sorry, got carried away there.
The 2016 Austrian Grand Prix gave us controversy, excitement and fistbumps on innocent tables in the Mercedes box. Some people thought Hamilton was at fault, some people thought it was Nico who deserved the blame. And then something happened that I can only describe as one of the most beautiful things ever on the AS forum. A member with a certain attitude reckoned that you can argue about an accident with arrows and lines using Microsoft paint. What followed was the most hilarious banter I've ever witnessed on any racing forum and it's something we should honor because unlike us, this thread will live FOREVA!
http://forums.autosp...n-gp/?p=7607080
Thank you for this gift, Jesus
Wait a minute: Lewis Hamilton not being at fault for an incident and yet being blamed for the incident by some people... where have I heard that recently?
The dessert
So this is it. The first Grand Prix after THE Grand Prix. The one where a certain someone bumped into the back of a certain someone, only to lose his marbles and bump into him again, this time on purpose. What's going to happen next? Is Vettel going to be penalized any further? Is the looming threat of a harsher penalty going to affect him during the weekend? Is it going to affect his birthday, which happens to be today (happy birthday, btw)? How will Lewis react to all of that? Are they going to talk to each other? And who will have the upper hand on track?
So many questions to be answered, but one thing is for sure: It's going to be an exciting weekend on and off the circuit. Ain't that right Toto?
Some random data I'm throwing out there to please Marklar
FP1: FRI 10:00 am - 11:30 am CET
FP2: FRI 14:00 pm - 15:30 pm CET
FP3: SAT 11:00 am - 12:00 pm CET
Q1-3: SAT 14:00 pm - 15:00 pm CET
R: SUN 14:00 pm CET
Have a great race you all!
Edited by GoldenColt, 03 July 2017 - 17:04.
