Max Verstappen revealed he has urged Red Bull to rebuild more of the Osterreichring, which was once Formula 1’s fastest circuit.
The Austrian track was shortened to form the venue now known as the Red Bull Ring in 1996.
All of its famous fast corners – including Tiroch, Bosch and Rindt – were bypassed or reprofiled to create the modern layout which F1 first raced on in 1997. The western portion of the circuit remains, and Red Bull built a chicane between it and the current pit straight at one stage, but has no plans to use it at present.
“I’ve asked to try and get it back to how it was back in the day,” said Verstappen. “A bit faster first sector would be quite cool, but I don’t think that is possible at the moment.
“But I’ve seen some really cool onboards from back in the day. I think it’s still, of course, now a very nice track, but I think in general even if you had that first sector just all the way with the fast corners, I think it would be even better because then it’s basically only like one slow-speed corner or whatever on the track. But it’s a cool layout.”
F1 raced at the Osterreichring between 1970 and 1987. Its lack of slow corners meant it was regularly the quickest track F1 visited. Nelson Piquet took pole position for the final race there at an average speed of 256.621kph (159.456mph).
The modern layout is 1.5 kilometres shorter than the old track, and Verstappen said it has the advantage of offering good views for spectators.
“What I like the most is that the fans can actually see a lot of the track when you’re sitting on any grandstand. And I think that makes it quite a special atmosphere because it feels like you’re a bit more in an arena kind of feeling. For racing and watching the race, it’s definitely one of the best tracks on the calendar.”
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Pictures: Osterreiching
Video: How the Red Bull Ring has changed
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