W for pioneer!

The Wurz family under the sign of the Ring

Papa Franz and Alex Wurz

(Bild: GEPA)

Long before Didi Mateschitz and Red Bull got involved, things looked bleak for Austria's race track. Dad Franz Wurz and Alex played a decisive role ...

These days, Alex Wurz, Austria's former 69-time Grand Prix starter, is a TV pundit for ORF at the Red Bull Ring. Dad (and ex-racing driver) Franz Wurz will be watching the race on Sunday at home in Lower Austria. "I'm well equipped, I'll watch it comfortably," laughs the now 77-year-old, who played a decisive role back then when there was no Red Bull involvement in the Murtal ...

"I was with the ÖAMTC at the time, and we ran driving technique centers," Wurz senior recalls. "So I thought that one in the south wouldn't be bad. We ended up at the Österreich-Ring. And at some point, the Styrian politicians at the time, led by Governor Klasnic, came and asked if we wanted to do something with the Ring."

Franz Wurz (right) at the Spielberg Driving Technique Center in 1995.

(Bild: GEPA)

No sooner said than done. The track was redesigned, shortened (due to noise pollution), made "race-ready", so to speak, and Wurz founded a company and managed the track and the Formula 1 races. "It was perfect. But nothing compared to today. What has happened and is happening at the Ring is unique," says Franz, whose son Alex not only drove his first personal laps in an F1 car as part of an F1 test for Sauber in 1996, but also the first ever laps of an F1 car on the new track layout of the then A1 Ring.

Alex Wurz in 1996 during the first drives on the "old" Ring.

(Bild: GEPA)

Ecclestone "fooled"
This naming, A1-Ring, was ultimately based on a misunderstanding. "Yes, it is somehow to my credit that Spielberg was the first race track in the world on the calendar with a sponsor in its name," laughs Franz. "Alex had A1 as a sponsor in his first year at Benetton. So there were good relationships. But Bernie Ecclestone saw it more as 'Austria 1' and not as the name of a telecommunications company."

The track layout also has to do with the Wurz family. "The first drawings were made by my father and me when I was little," Alex recalls. "Architect Hermann Tilke then drew in our designs." This paved the way - before Red Bull and the Spielberg project were given the green light in 2008 and turned the Ring into the envy of the entire Austrian premier class.