Eighth seasonal round for Formula 1, as well as the third event of the month of June. There have already been 40 GPs held in Austria because, in addition to the 38 Austrian GPs proper, there are 2 Styrian GPs held during the pandemic, when many nations were off-limits.
Twenty-one took place in Spielberg, 18 at the Österreichring, and 1 in Zeltweg. The last 4 editions of the Austrian GP have been won by 4 different drivers from as many teams.
GP data
According to Brembo engineers who work closely with all Formula 1 drivers, the 4.318-meter-long Red Bull Ring falls into the category of circuits that are moderately demanding on brakes. On a scale from 1 to 5, it has earned a difficulty rating of 3 because each lap includes 6 braking points totaling 10 and a half seconds: only the first 3 are classified as Hard, 2 are Medium, and 1 is Light. However, at no point does deceleration reach 4 g.
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The toughest corner
According to simulations, the toughest corner of the Red Bull Ring for the braking system of Formula 1 cars is the first one after the finish line, despite having shorter braking spaces and times compared to corners 3 and 4: the cars go from 306 km/h to 149 km/h in 1.93 seconds over a distance of 109 meters. During this phase, drivers are required to apply a load of 110 kg on the brake pedal while experiencing 3.8 g of deceleration. The braking power is 1,533 kW.
Half a second
Compared to the Austrian GP 2025, due to the characteristics of the 2026 single-seaters, braking distances and times have significantly increased. At turn 3 a year ago, cars lost 228 km/h compared to 216 km/h this year, yet the braking distance has risen from 112 to 135 meters and the braking time from 2.58 seconds to 3 seconds. On the other hand, maximum deceleration has dropped from 4.6 g to 3.8 g, and the load on the brake pedal has decreased from 142 kg to 110 kg.
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Eddie's quartet
The first driver to win the Austrian GP with Brembo brakes was Eddie Irvine with Ferrari in 1999. For a couple of years, the team had been using discs and pads featuring a friction component that had immediately won over Michael Schumacher. The Northern Irishman won 4 GPs, all with the F399 equipped with ventilated carbon discs. At the time, studies on brake fluid dynamics were in their infancy; in fact, the ventilation holes for each disc numbered about twenty, whereas today they exceed 1,400.
Different philosophies
The management of wear materials is one of the aspects that most differentiates the approach of Formula 1 teams. Some teams use the same set of discs and pads for the entire weekend and, in some cases, even during the early sessions of the following event. Others perform more frequent replacements of friction materials to fully exploit the tribological characteristics of the braking system and optimize the pedal feel typical of a system with "fresh" materials.