Corona has changed the face of Formula 1.
The pandemic forced many emergency solutions on this microcosm that knew no boundaries.
One of them is a second Grand Prix in Styria within a week (Sunday, 3 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for Formula 1 and on Sky).
The Formula 1 community is on.
Every race counts because it makes money.
2020 indirectly, because the TV contracts were fulfilled.
This year the rights holders cash in twice.
However, the promoter received a substantial discount for the second party on the Red Bull Ring.
He helped the premier class out of an emergency.
First the race in Canada was canceled due to the pandemic, then the alternative date in Turkey.
A “triple” that began two weeks ago in France is now ending on the slopes in the Styrian mountains.
It was a courageous decision by the racetrack owner Red Bull, because at the time of the acceptance it was not certain which framework conditions the politicians would specify.
Lucky: 15,000 spectators came to the first tour.
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz saw "only" 10,000 visitors on the stands of the huge grandstands.
Before it was leaked that there would be a Grand Prix of Styria as a preliminary program for the Grand Prix of Austria, advance sales for the race that had been planned from the beginning had already started in July.
There are not enough buyers for tickets between 112 and 495 euros at such short intervals.
And so the new freedom of Formula 1 will not weigh down a full house.
Because there are no longer any restrictions, there would have been space for 100,000.
Nevertheless, there will be a stadium atmosphere for the first time since the end of 2019.
Four days before the start, the organizer said it had sold more than 60,000 tickets.
Max Verstappen's victory last Sunday could expand the Dutch caravan.
The compatriots of the Red Bull pilot have moved into a tent city built especially for them or parked their mobile homes in the surrounding meadows. The organizer hopes to have up to 70,000 fans. "Then we'd get away with a black eye," says the sports director of the Red Bull Formula 1 team, Helmut Marko.
Double events also have their pitfalls. Given the perfection of the teams, a copy of the first would have to be feared for the second race. You cannot rely on the mood of nature, when it rains, to make some people swim. The plan to drive against the direction of the race failed. There was not enough fall space in two corners. The connection to the still existing route of the old Österreichring would have failed due to the strict noise regulations. It passes too close to the houses. So in the end the only solution was to offer one level of softer tire types for the second race.
That can turn the balance of power on its head, as last season's British Grand Prix proved.
The softer tires slowed the favorite Mercedes.
This will have less of an impact in Spielberg because Pirelli's softest rubber compound is completely unsuitable for the Red Bull Ring.
“As in France, everyone will qualify on the medium tire and not touch the soft rubber during the race,” predict Mercedes engineers.
Fernando Alonso (Alpine) fears that using Pirelli's super glue will play better cards into the hands of the top teams.
“Mercedes and Red Bull, maybe even Ferrari and McLaren will be able to qualify for the top ten on medium tires.
But we will have to take the softest tire and then suffer at the beginning of the race. "
The first "full house" since the outbreak of the Corona crisis should experience Silverstone in two weeks. The organizer expects 130,000 spectators. Many say this is insane at a time when the Delta variant of the virus is spreading like a bushfire. Lewis Hamilton even dared to criticize cautiously: "As great as I think it's that the best fans in the world are allowed to go back to the stands, the more I worry about their health."