Million renovation at the Red Bull Ring “fully on schedule” – but there are disruptions

– The official DTM test in Spielberg also offered an exciting sight on Tuesday aside from the new cars for the 2026 season: Because the pit facility at the Red Bull Ring is currently being rebuilt and expanded for around 13 million euros – and the area of the paddock near the pit entrance is a major construction site.

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The goal is to create more space, as it has already been very tight for Formula 1 in Spielberg – even without the new eleventh team Cadillac. The new facility is already taking clear shape: A large two-story building has been added to the existing pits at the pit entrance, housing four additional pit boxes.

It is being built where the Medical Center used to stand, which was demolished. It will now also be part of the new building and will have two floors. While the building already looks almost finished from the outside, there is busy construction activity behind it in the paddock.

“The construction site will be such that DTM runs smoothly”

What is happening there? Directly behind the building, the paddock is being extended with an open area. Behind that follows a covered area, which is connected at the top with the first floor of the new pit building and blends into the landscape. What looks spectacular from the outside will, according to Motorsport-Total.com, be a so-called “equipment area.” It is intended to offer more space for deliveries and provide a covered parking lot.

Photo series: Red Bull Ring reconstruction 2026: Current images from the major construction site

“It will be finished for Formula 1, but not quite finished for DTM,” explains Red Bull Ring managing director Thomas Überall in an interview with Motorsport-Total.com about the status of the reconstruction. For the DTM season opener (April 24 to 26), for example, the Medical Center will be housed in a container in the paddock to ensure medical care.

“The construction site will be such that the DTM can be carried out smoothly,” promises Überall. “And then it will be about finalizing it so that it can be used in full for Formula 1. We are on a good path there.”

Facility to be completed in time for Formula 1

They were also favored by the “so-called mild winter weather” during the reconstruction, which began in September 2025, reveals Überall. “And the companies that are handling all of this are great. That’s why we are fully on schedule.”

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The Formula 1 weekend will take place this year from June 26 to 28 (Formula 1 calendar) – the new facility is to be handed over finished by the end of May.

The reconstruction of the Schönberghof above the Schönberg straight, from where there is a good view over the entire race track, into a modern five-story luxury hotel including a sky bar was already completed in February. The costs are said to be around twelve million euros.

What impact does “interference” have on the reconstruction?

Despite the large investments in the facility, there is also resistance this time. The activist Karl Arbesser, who has been mobilizing against the race track for over 30 years, filed an objection against the reconstruction last year and is now continuing to oppose the project before the regional administrative court with two comrades.

“We want to ensure that with this enlargement of the pit building, there is no expansion of operations beyond the existing EIA approval,” he explains his motives in the Kleine Zeitung.

How does the Red Bull Ring respond to this? “There is always some interference, but we are used to that,” says Überall. “It is not nice, it is not pleasant, but everything is fine. And we are not doing anything that is not right, that is not legally permitted. There are one or two delays, but we have to factor that in so as not to fall behind schedule.”

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