A1 Team Austria
Motor racing team, 2005–2006
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The A1 Team Austria was the Austrian representative team in A1 Grand Prix. The team competed only in the inaugural season of the championship.
| A1 Team Austria | |
|---|---|
| |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Seat holder(s) | Lauda Motorsport Management |
| Race driver(s) | Mathias Lauda, Patrick Freisacher |
| First race | 2005-06 Great Britain |
| Rounds entered | 11 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Sprint race victories | 0 |
| Feature race victories | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Total points | 14 |
Ownership
A1 Team Austria was owned and operated by Lauda Motorsport Management. The management team included Niki Lauda and Keke Rosberg, both former Formula 1 World Champions. Whilst the team was racing for Austria, Team Rosberg, based in Germany operated the race team.[1] Lauda's son, Lukas, officially ran Lauda Motorsport Management who worked with other teams such as Scuderia Coloni.[2] Their entry to the championship was announced ahead of the first race, along with A1 Team Italy and A1 Team Japan.[3][4]
Ahead of the 2006-07 season, A1 Team Austria withdrew from A1 Grand Prix along with Japan, Russia and Portugal.[5]
Drivers
During their one season in the championship, the A1 Team Austria employed Mathias Lauda and Patrick Friesacher as their drivers.[4][6][7][8]
| Name | Seasons | Races (starts) |
A1GP Title | Wins | Sprint wins |
Main wins |
2nd | 3rd | Poles | Fastest laps |
Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patrick Friesacher | 2005-06 | 1 (2) | 3 | ||||||||
| Mathias Lauda | 2005-06 | 10 (20) | 11 |
2005-06 season
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The season began poorly for A1 Team Austria, with no points scored until the 3rd round in Portugal, where Lauda finished 10th in the feature race meaning a single point was gained.[9] At the following two rounds, the car would suffer retirements in both sprint races. In Dubai, Lauda finished 7th in the feature race scoring 4 points for the team.[10] He would score another 7th-place finish at the South African race, next time out.[11][12]
Lauda would be replaced for the Mexican race by former Minardi F1 driver, Patrick Friesacher. Friesacher would finish 10th and 9th in the two races, A1 Team Austria's first double points scoring race weekend.[13][14][15] Lauda would return for the final two rounds of the season in America and China, scoring points at Laguna Seca.[16]
At the end of the season, A1 Team Austria scored 14 points and were classified 19th in the championship.
Complete A1 Grand Prix results
(key), "spr" indicate a Sprint Race, "fea" indicate a Main Race.
| Year | Racing team |
Chassis, engine, tyres |
Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | Points | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-06 | Team Rosberg | Lola, Zytek, Cooper Avon |
GBR spr | GBR fea | GER spr | GER fea | PRT spr | PRT fea | AUS spr | AUS fea | MYS spr | MYS fea | ARE spr | ARE fea | ZAF spr | ZAF fea | IDN spr | IDN fea | MEX spr | MEX fea | USA spr | USA fea | CHN spr | CHN fea | 14 | 19th | |
| Mathias Lauda | 20 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 10 | 19 | Ret | 18 | Ret | 17 | 7 | 16 | 7 | 13 | Ret | 12 | 9 | Ret | 13 | |||||||
| Patrick Friesacher | 10 | 9 |