Story highlights
The Austrian Grand Prix could return to the Formula One calendar in 2014
Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz and F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone have struck a deal
The race will be held at the Red Bull Ring in south-east Austria
The Austrian GP was dropped from the calendar in 2003
Red Bull, whose Formula One team has won the drivers’ and constructors’ titles for the past three years, could have a home race in Austria from 2014.
Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz and F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone have struck a deal to return the race to the sport’s global calendar after an 11-year absence.
A statement from Red Bull’s headquarters in Austria said: “Dietrich Mateschitz and Bernie Ecclestone have reached an agreement which will see Formula 1 return to Styria [a state in south-east Austria] as early as next year.
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“The race [is] to be staged at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.
“Pending all of the necessary official authorizations for the Red Bull Ring, the race is scheduled for July 6, 2014. We are thrilled.”
The agreement and date is provisional until the sport’s governing body, the FIA, ratify the calendar later this year.
New circuits added to the F1 calendar also have to be pass the FIA’s safety tests.
The Red Bull Ring staged the Austrian Grand Prix between 1970 and 1987 in its former guise as the Osterreichring.
The fast, narrow circuit was dropped from the calendar because of safety concerns before reappearing as a shortened A-Ring in 1997.
Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher won the last race held at the circuit in 2003 before it again lost its place on the calendar because further planned redevelopment of the track had stalled.
Mateschitz bought and rebuilt the circuit, branding it the Red Bull Ring, and now his long held hope of bringing F1 back to his homeland could be about to be fulfilled.
