Redevelopment
The grandstands and pit buildings were demolished in 2004, rendering the track unusable for any motorsport category.
In late 2004 and early 2005, there were intense discussions concerning whether the owner of the circuit, Red Bull, would find another use for the site, or return motor sports to the venue. There was a circuit extension proposal using part of the old Österreichring. As of January 2005, return of motor sports seemed more unlikely than ever, as Dietrich Mateschitz publicly announced that he had no intention of wasting money on a deficitary circuit. The failure of the project, which was of considerable importance to the surrounding municipalities, may even have serious political repercussions, as Styrian governor Waltraud Klasnic had strongly supported the project.
In 2006, Austrian racing driver Alexander Wurz claimed he would buy the circuit and have it renovated, but the idea never came to fruition.
Throughout 2005, there was speculation of Red Bull Racing renovating the track to use it as a test venue.
In 2007, talks involving Red Bull, KTM, VW and Magna International for a neuer Österreichring failed, after VW pulled out.
In July 2008, DTM chiefs decided not to include Österreichring on the 2009 Calendar - but plans for the revival of the track continued.
Late in 2008, Red Bull began their €70m reconstruction of the track and DTM chiefs considered a return to the circuit in 2009.
In October 2008, the track owner Dietrich Mateschitz ruled out any chance of the track hosting a MotoGP or Formula One Grand Prix in the future, and said it would only be used for DTM events.
In September 2010, it was confirmed that the circuit would host a round of the 2011 DTM season, now known as the Red Bull Ring.
In November 2010 F2 announced that Round 6 of the 2011 F2 championship would take place at the Red Bull Ring.
The circuit was reopened at a special event over the weekend of May 15 & 16 2011, which included displays of various Red Bull sponsored teams including Red Bull Racing. The FIA Historic Formula One Championship was invited to provide the headline race attraction with a race on each day for Formula One cars from the 3 litre period.
Read more about this topic: Red Bull Ring