Austrian GP: Verstappen can overtake Senna and Mansell with this record

Located at an altitude of 677m above sea level, it is the highest altitude circuit on the European leg of the calendar. It is 4.318km long and the average speed of last year's winner, Charles Leclerc, was 217.95kph. The Red Bull Ring has the fewest corners of any circuit on the calendar with just 10, of which seven are right-handers and three are left-handers.

The usual overtaking points on the circuit are the Castrol Edge (Turn 1), the Remus feature (Turn 3), the most overtaking-friendly place on the circuit and finally Schlossgold, (Turn 4), after the second DRS sector. Of course, if a driver is feeling brave and confident he can try to overtake at the Niki Lauda (turn 6) and Jochen Rindt (turn 9) corners.

The races that have taken place at the circuit previously known as Osterreichring have always been a talking point. Recently, we can remember Alexander Albon spinning after being hit by Lewis Hamilton coming out of turn 4 or Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc retiring from the race after colliding with each other at turn 3, so there is a 50% chance that we will experience a safety car and a 20% chance that the race stewards will deploy the virtual safety car.

Things to watch out for this weekend

- If Max Verstappen wins the Austrian Grand Prix 2023, he would become the single greatest single-race winner with four victories. While Verstappen has won four times on Austrian soil, one of those victories was at the Styrian Grand Prix, not the Austrian Grand Prix. At the moment the Dutchman shares the top spot with Alain Prost, with three wins each.

- If Verstappen takes pole at the Red Bull Ring, he would become the driver with the most pole positions at the Austrian circuit with four. He currently has three, as does Valtteri Bottas.

- If Verstappen leads all the laps at the Red Bull Ring, he will be the first driver in Red Bull history to lead all the laps for four consecutive Grands Prix. At the moment, he is tied with Sebastian Vettel at three-three apiece.

- Verstappen could also overtake Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell for the most consecutive laps completed in the race lead. Alberto Ascari is the current leader with 305, followed by Senna with two records, one of 264 laps and one of 237. Behind him is Mansell with 235. Verstappen is just 11 behind the Briton with 224.

- If Verstappen, or his team-mate Sergio Pérez, wins the Austrian Grand Prix it will be the tenth win in a row for Red Bull Racing.

- If Verstappen wins from pole and leads every lap, he will have seven hat tricks to his credit, equalling Ayrton Senna and Alberto Ascari.

- If Verstappen wins from pole, leads all the laps and takes the fastest lap, he will catch up with Jackie Stewart, Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell and Sebastian Vettel, who have four Grand Slams or Grand Chelems. The Dutchman has three, as does his father-in-law, Nelson Piquet.

- If either a Ferrari or McLaren driver wins, they will become the team with the most victories at the Austrian track, with seven.

- The most victorious engine manufacturer of the event is not present among the participants, yet. Ford rises above all others with 9 victories. The American brand financed the production of engines by Cosworth DFV from the 1960s to the early 1980s. Mercedes follows with 8, Ferrari with 6, Renault with 4, and TAG and Honda with 3.

- If Charles Leclerc takes victory at the Red Bull Ring he will equal the record for consecutive wins at this circuit. No driver has ever won the Austrian Grand Prix more than twice in a row.

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