The Hills are Alive - Austria's Top 5 gifts to F1

Red Bull Ring

Wildlife – Canada might present the hazard of the occasional small rodent but Austria’s circuit has the big stuff – deer. Stefan Johansson memorably demolished one (and his McLaren) during practice in 1987 and Juan Pablo Montoya nearly encountered another in 2001 when his engineer informed him that a deer – he told JPM that it was “like a horse with horns" – was on track. The Colombian’s calm response was a simple “oh, dear".
Atmosphere – It’s got all the things a proper grand prix should have – high speeds, variable weather and a passionate crowd, most of whom are living, very boisterously, in tents. If that sounds like classics such as Silverstone, the Nurburgring, Spa and Monza, well, there you go.
The all-Schnitzel diet – There’s nothing quite like the superb taste of that first bite of Austria’s national dish. The only downside is the certain knowledge that there are 15 more of these bad boys coming your way over the next four days…
The beer – they make it really, really well here. What more reason do you need?
Mountains – It’s simple: the best way to build a grand prix circuit is to start with a hill and scrape away anything that doesn’t look like a race track. Austria’s got good mountains, ergo a good circuit.