TRAVEL

City Spielberg

Time zone BST+1

Population 5,000

How far? Spielberg is 729 miles (1,173km) from the McLaren Technology Centre

Getting there The Red Bull Ring has the most remote location of any racetrack on the 2017 Formula 1 calendar. Getting there takes time. The nearest international airports are at Graz, one hour’s drive away, and Vienna, 2.5 hours away. Like many teams, the majority of the McLaren race team flies to and from the race on a Formula 1 charter flight, from London Luton to Graz

Surprising fact The old town in Graz is a UNESCO World Heritage site, much like the old town in Baku, where the Azerbaijan Grand Prix took place a couple of weeks ago

Local speciality ‘Steirisches Wurzelfleisch’, a pork-pot roast that’s a speciality of Styrian chefs. Served with grated apple, horseradish and caraway potatoes, the pork has a distinctive taste which, we’re told, cannot be found anywhere else…

Weather It’s warm at this time of year. Temperatures have been in the mid-20s this week, but rain is forecast to hit the region at some point over the race weekend

Track length 4.326km/2.688 miles (the fourth-shortest of the year)

2016 pole position Lewis Hamilton, 1m07.922s

2016 fastest lap Lewis Hamilton, 1m08.411s (lap 67)

Lap record 1:08.337s (Michael Schumacher, 2003 – A1 Ring)

Tyre choice Purple Ultrasoft, red Supersoft, yellow Soft – the fifth time this combination has been used in 2017

Distance to Turn One 185m/0.115 miles (longest of the season: Barcelona 730m/0.454 miles)

Longest straight 868m/0.539 miles, on the approach to Turn One

Top speed 310km/h/192mph, on the approach to Turn One (fastest of the season: Baku, 365km/h/227mph)

Full throttle 66 per cent (highest of the season: Monza, 75 per cent)

Brakewear Medium. There are only three significant braking events around the lap

Fuel consumption 1.7kg per lap, which is average

ERS demands High, due to lots of full-deployment

Gear changes 54 per lap/3,834 per race

Laps 71 laps

Start time 14:00hrs local / 13:00hrs BST

Grid advantage Pole position is situated on the left side of the track, on the racing line. There is a slight grip advantage there, but it’s only a short, uphill dash to Turn One

DRS There are two DRS zones, on the approaches to Turns One and Four

Don’t put the kettle on…Lewis Hamilton won last year’s race on a two-stop strategy, but Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen finished second and third by completing the race with one pitstop. Verstappen managed 56 laps on a set of the Soft-compound tyres, so various strategies are possible

Pitlane length/Pitstops 242m/0.150 miles (longest of the season: Silverstone, 457m/0.283 miles). Estimated time loss for a pitstop is 20s

Safety Car likelihood The likelihood of a Safety Car is low, largely due to the acres of asphalt run-off giving the drivers room for manoeuvre. However, there was a six-lap Safety Car period in 2015, following a collision at Turn Two between Fernando and Kimi

Watch out for…The Lauda corner, Turn Seven. Its fast, downhill approach challenges the bravery of the drivers and if they carry too much speed at the exit they will understeer over a sausage kerb and risk damaging the car

Stoffel Vandoorne

#SV2  MCL32-02

“Scoring points in the last race was very good for the whole team’s motivation and morale, and I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to make further progress in Austria. We’ve been bringing upgrades to every race, so a problem-free weekend, at a circuit that doesn’t disadvantage us, would really allow us to gain some momentum.

“Of course, we’re still some way off where we want to be, but a respectable result in Austria would really give the team an added boost.”