Analysis
Formula 1 Austrian GP
Analysis: F1 set for lowest pole time in 30 years in Austria
The pole position time for this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix is likely to be well inside the all-time top 10 list of lowest F1 pole laptimes – and it could even be the lowest achieved at any F1 circuit since the 1980s.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Jul 5, 2017, 6:01 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Last year's resurfacing of the Red Bull Ring helped to produce quicker laptimes, although rain compromised Q3.
However, in Q2 Lewis Hamilton set the fastest official qualifying lap ever achieved at the venue, a 1m06.228s, beating the record set by Michael Schumacher in 2003.
It was also the lowest qualifying laptime set anywhere since the 1990 French GP, when Nigel Mansell was fastest for Ferrari at the short version of Paul Ricard.
If this weekend's pole is quicker than Mansell's mark of 1m04.402s, it will be the lowest qualifying laptime since 1985, when the same driver took pole at Kyalami with the Williams-Honda.
To achieve that pole at the Red Bull Ring will have to be some 1.827s quicker than Hamilton's 2016 Q2 lap.
With the changes to the regulations in 2017 pole times have been faster at every venue this year, with the year-on-year improvement ranging from 0.724s in Bahrain to 3.724s in China. The average gain over the eight races held thus far has been 2.106s.
While the short lap in Austria means that the proportional improvement may be smaller, it's worth noting that Hamilton's 2016 Q2 time did not represent the ultimate pace of his car, which he was not able to demonstrate due to the rain before Q3.
The all-time list is dominated by laptimes recorded at Dijon, which was extended after the original 2.0-mile track was first used for the 1974 French GP, but still had a very short 2.3-mile lap even in its new guise.
The original Watkins Glen was also a short 2.3-mile lap until it was lengthened in 1971.
Kyalami would have figured higher on the all-time list had turbo F1 cars raced there in 1986-87, so its fastest lap remains the one achieved by Mansell in 1985.
The following table shows where Austria's 2017 pole lap could fit into the all-time list:
Year Circuit Driver Laptime 1974 
Dijon 
Niki Lauda 58.790s 1982 Dijon Alain Prost 1m01.380s 1984 Dijon Patrick Tambay 1m02.200s 1985 
Kyalami 
Nigel Mansell 1m02.366s 1970 
Watkins Glen 
Jacky Ickx 1m03.070s 1969 Watkins Glen Jochen Rindt 1m03.620s 1968 Watkins Glen Mario Andretti 1m04.200s 1990 Paul Ricard Nigel Mansell 1m04.402s 1985 Kyalami 
Nelson Piquet 1m04.871s 1967 Watkins Glen Graham Hill 1m05.480s 1985 Silverstone 
Keke Rosberg 1m05.591s 1981 Dijon Rene Arnoux 1m05.950s 2016 Spielberg Lewis Hamilton 1m06.228s (Q2) 1982 Kyalami Alain Prost 1m06.351s 1987 Paul Ricard Nigel Mansell 1m06.454s 1986 Paul Ricard Ayrton Senna 1m06.526s 1983 Kyalami Patrick Tambay 1m06.554s 1986 Brands Hatch Nelson Piquet 1m06.961s 1987 Silverstone Nelson Piquet 1m07.110s 1985 Brands Hatch Ayrton Senna 1m07.169s 1979 Dijon Jean-Pierre Jabouille 1m07.190s 1989 Paul Ricard Alain Prost 1m07.203s 1990 Silverstone Nigel Mansell 1m07.428s 1988 Paul Ricard Alain Prost 1m07.589s 2003 Spielberg 
Michael Schumacher 1m07.908s* 2016 Spielberg Lewis Hamilton 1m07.922s (Q3) 2002 Spielberg Rubens Barrichello 1m08.082s 1966 Watkins Glen 
Jack Brabham 1m08.420s 2015 Spielberg Lewis Hamilton 1m08.455s 2014 Spielberg Felipe Massa 1m08.759s
*Not pole but achieved in Friday session, which determined Saturday qualifying order. Schumacher also set a fastest race lap of 1m08.337s that year.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Webber calls for end to F1 grid penalties
Next article Magnussen: Grosjean quicker than Button "on his day"
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Latest news
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 43 min
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
Indy NXT
IndL Indy NXT 2 h
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 2 h
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
13 Autosport retains unchanged lineup for 2027 IMSA campaign, eyes global expansion
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 2 h
13 Autosport retains unchanged lineup for 2027 IMSA campaign, eyes global expansion
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe