A second weekend in a row in the Styrian mountains offers the opportunity to meet one of the Austrian motorsport career changers – while the Max Verstappen fever continues to spread.
Wednesday June 30th
Since it only makes sense to stay in Austria one after the other at the Grand Prix of Styria and Austria instead of going home between the events, I booked an apartment in Gratkorn, on the outskirts of Graz, for the transition period. Despite my best intentions, any form of recovery proved impossible, such was the workload after the weekend.
On Wednesday I will meet with Red Bull’s F1 advisor Dr. Helmut Marko, a contemporary of Jochen Rindt and Niki Lauda, in his office in the shadow of the Graz Schlossberg. The lawyer, who became a racing driver and (four times) hotelier, won Le Mans for Porsche in 1971 and drove in Formula 1 with BRM. At the 1972 French Grand Prix, a stone pierced his visor, blinded his left eye, and forced him to retire.
I had seen him at races and I remembered a brave, straightforward driver whose characteristics were reflected in his sober management style. He tells me that Red Bull’s combination of Verstappen, Sergio Perez and the Honda-powered RB16B is overall stronger than the Mercedes package, but emphasizes that they don’t underestimate the competition. He predicts a close fight until the penultimate or even the last race.
An encrypted message to Verstappen fans?
The fact that Honda will also be supplying units from Japan (for a fee) by Honda in 2022 is just one of Helmut’s revelations. As I prepare to take off after an hour-long conversation, he nods to a Red Bull display across the street, which is mounted on a cliff above his K36 hotel, and suggests that the receptionists accompany me up the hill. I’ve seen a lot of cars on living room walls, but mounting one on a cliff is so Red Bull.
Thursday 1st July
The drive to the racetrack for the midday media session reminds me of 2019 – every second car has yellow (Dutch) license plates, most residents are already dressed in orange in anticipation of another Verstappen victory.
I see Lewis Hamilton arrive in the paddock dressed in orange pants as promised when we met briefly last Sunday. It may be part of a plan to disband the Orange Army, but strangely enough, he put on camouflage clothing before his media session. Maybe the outfit for Tommy Hilfiger wasn’t ‘on the embassy’ enough?
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On the way to my hotel, I discover yet more proof of the attraction of this race for Verstappen fans: A guest house with available rooms shows a life-size poster of their hero next to a carved wood F1 car with a rudimentary halo. I wonder what kind of reception fans would get with Hamilton insignia. All grist for the mill.
The Red Bull man has a strong profile in Austria
Friday July 2nd
The first task after arriving in the paddock at 10am is to talk to Alpine Technical Director Pat Fry, who joined the team last year after McLaren spells that included a Ferrari phase. A common factor with these teams is Fernando Alonso, who is of course reunited with Fry at Alpine.
Pat originally worked in rocket design and Moto-GP suspension systems before switching to four wheels, so he can count on his left-hand side thinking to wear on his first all-new Alpine design, the 2022 car brings. We will share his thoughts on the new era regulations and the Spanish driver in the coming days.
Before I return to the media center, I dig through my plans for next year’s calendar. It seems we’ll have 23 races – that much said F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali in our last interview – but the big question is whether the season starts in Australia, as it has (mostly) since 1996, or in Bahrain . The Melbourneers appear to be suspended due to the disruptive factor Albert Park against a race in November of this year (if it happens) and another four months later.
They also fear that if their race is canceled in November, the same restrictions will still apply four months later. So the smart money is for the reopening of the 2022 F1 season in Bahrain, preceded by a test like this year, with a November 2022 date for the Australian Grand Prix. Two three-day tests, however, are likely due to unknowns surrounding the cars of 2022 – a “shakedown” in Europe (Barcelona?) Followed by (hotter) tests in the Middle East.
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The FIA lunchtime press conference was notable for ongoing questions from Honda technical director Toyoharu Tanabe after Mercedes claimed the manufacturer had improved the performance of its (frozen) power units on the pretext of reliability. All due respect to the Japanese engineer, who answered calmly and clearly in a language that was foreign to him.
This year’s new Aston Martin livery … or is it the Mercedes?
During the evening media session from Otmar Szafnauer, the American CEO of Aston Martin F1 points out that the team is investigating a different shade of green to give their cars more “pop on TV” and to distinguish them from other dark finishes. It is reminiscent of similar color changes during the season, not least of which is Jordan switching from B&H Gold to Yellow after the former looked “dirty” on TV.
Whatever is said about Jaguar’s F1 campaign, it cannot be blamed for not getting its presentation thorough: before deciding on the final paint job, the Big Cat rated an F3 car in different shades of green and then selected it from different ones Angle of view shot into the picture changing light on the Oulton Park Circuit. An almost lime green shade instead of the traditional British Racing Green worked best.
I told this story to Aston Martin after a livery teaser came out in January that said, “We know what we’re doing …”
After business hours I drive to the Bachwirt, a restaurant on the riverside in Knittelfeld, for a (socially distant) dinner hosted by the local entrepreneur Christoph Ammann, whose company CAM Security has been providing gate security and ticketing for F1 for many years.
Due to Covid, dinner is more compact than in previous years and distancing sometimes made conversation difficult, but it was another sign that normality is gradually returning to F1.
Austrian Grand Prix 2021
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