The sound of Formula 1

THE snow-capped Styrian mountains will provide an apt backdrop this weekend for an Austrian Grand Prix that is being frozen out of the Formula One World Championship.

If the race can make one claim to fame, it is being the most scenic on the calendar. So perfect is the picture-postcard setting that you half expect Julie Andrews and the Von Trapp family to come waltzing down the hills any minute.

But those hills will be alive to the sound of grand prix cars for the final time, with the sport’s ringmaster, Bernie Ecclestone, having already told organisers they will not be on the schedule in 2004.

The race at the A1-Ring has lost out in the ongoing row over tobacco sponsorship, and the plan to bring in a ban from July 2005, 16 months ahead of the previously scheduled date, as well as F1’s search for new venues further afield.

Set in farming country, a three-hour drive through the mountains from Vienna, this grand prix does have a special feeling, with even multi-millionaire drivers and their team bosses using facilities far more basic than they are accustomed to.

“The thing about Austria is that it is out in the country, really farming country, and that I like, because tracks in Formula One should be different,” said Williams technical director Patrick Head, who can still remember his pungent introduction to his lodgings in the region.

“There was the most unbelievable smell in the room, it was absolutely horrific,” he recalled.

“It turned out that it was the room of the son of the house, and his working boots were in the cupboard. He must have used them every day for about 10 years, because they were unbelievable.”

Former world champion Niki Lauda, who won his home race in 1984, said: “The cows are running around all over the place.”

“There’s a completely different rhythm and way of life.

“What I like best is the atmosphere. You don’t live in a random hotel but on a farm where the chickens wake you in the morning.”

Britain’s David Coulthard said: “It is a funny little circuit to drive because there are not many corners. But usually it has given some interesting results in the races and incidents.

“But from a track point of view it is not as great a loss as, say, Spa.”

The original Osterreichring was a high-speed track almost on a par with Spa in Belgium, but after hosting 18 grand prix between 1970 and 1987 it was lost to the calendar because of safety reasons. And the dangers did not just come from other cars. In the final year, Sweden’s Stefan Johannson hit a deer that had wandered onto the track in his McLaren at around 170mph.

Around stg£17million was spent on updating the track, but the A1-Ring was an emasculation of its predecessor.

Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher raised the ugly spectre of team orders as he returned to the scene of the most controversial of his record 66 wins.

The German questioned whether it was possible to stop teams from fixing the outcome of a race after arriving in Austria, where he was booed and jeered 12 months ago.

Team orders were banned last year, following the worldwide outcry after Ferrari told Rubens Barrichello to move over and gift Schumacher the easiest of victories at the A1-Ring.

Schumacher was stunned by the crowd’s anger, pushing Barrichello onto the top step of the victory podium and handing the winner’s trophy to his Brazilian team-mate.

“I think it is down to the fans that team orders changed, I guess, because they didn’t like it,” said Schumacher. “Whether it is enforceable or not I don’t know.

“Certainly the obvious team orders will be enforceable. We have made a clear statement from our point of view how we are going to do things.”

Ferrari are unlikely to blatantly force Barrichello to move over for Schumacher, should he be leading.

But as Schumacher and other team sources admitted, the result can be manipulated by delaying one driver at a pit-stop, or even claiming afterwards that they were running different fuel loads, so it was easier to overtake.

Ferrari have even more reason to impose team orders this season, as they look to boost Schumacher’s bid for a record sixth drivers’ crown.

The 34-year-old already had a comfortable lead last year when they took their controversial decision, but this time he is second in the standings, four points behind McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen, despite having won the last two races.