The voestalpine wing in Spielberg enters the second round

3 July 2016 |

The voestalpine wing will again be at the center of racing activity at the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend, both as an architectural highlight and the gateway to the Red Bull Ring. voestalpine and Projekt Spielberg have now extended their cooperation concerning the multifunctional welcome and event center for a further two years. Key factors in deciding to continue voestalpine’s presence in Spielberg included not only the international reach achieved by major events such as Formula 1, but also the Group’s clear commitment to Styria, the home of nine voestalpine sites and a workforce of over 9,000 employees. With the starting signal sounding for the next round of the voestalpine wing, the company is again highlighting its strategic focus on the future-oriented mobility sector. Already 48 percent of Group revenue is generated in this growth area – a figure which is set to rise further.

Today, audiences from around the world are again watching Spielberg as it hosts Formula 1, the champions league of motorsport, at the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Styria. Since 2014 the voestalpine wing has been the major feature of the racetrack’s start/finishing straight, its unique racing car spoiler design symbolizing the bridge between the emotions of racing and the fascination for technology and innovation.

The Austrian Grand Prix exerts a huge international appeal, both across Europe and beyond, and reaches out not only to our customers and partners, but also to our 48,500 employees around the world. Extending our involvement in Spielberg to 2018 is also a further important stimulus for Styria as a technology and business location.

Wolfgang Eder, Chairman of the Management Board of voestalpine AG

At today’s Formula 1 around 500 international media representatives will be following the racing from the state-of-the-art media center in the voestalpine wing. Over the past two years images of events held at the Red Bull Ring have been broadcast in over 200 countries, reaching an audience of about 700 million people around the world.

Motor racing as a driver of innovation

Motor racing, and Formula 1 in particular, is seen as an important driver of innovation and future technologies in the automotive industry. Ever increasing speeds and growing safety requirements, paired with constant reductions in weight and fuel consumption, all depend on new material developments.

Today voestalpine is one of the leading providers of groundbreaking technologies for automotive construction, including high-performance materials for engines and gear parts in Formula 1 racing cars. As in motorsport, we are working to consistently drive forward the innovations needed for even safer and lighter vehicles.

Wolfgang Eder, Chairman of the Management Board of voestalpine AG

The Group recently set another milestone in the race to design the most innovative materials with its lightweight, corrosion-resistant body parts. With their excellence crash performance and simultaneously lowest possible weight, these press-hardened steel components (“phs technology”) are being increasingly used by Europe’s premium automobile manufacturers to replace the conventional materials used in safety-relevant body parts. voestalpine is also a leading player in pioneering areas of research such as metal additive manufacturing which uses metal powders to print 3D components. Using 3D printing to manufacture components is ideal for novel component geometries which in turn contribute to reducing vehicle weight, or for making high-quality replacement parts immediately available in motor-sports.

voestalpine in Styria

Three of the four voestalpine Group divisions – the Metal Engineering Division, the Metal Forming Division, and the Special Steel Division – make a significant contribution to regional value creation in Styria through their 13 production companies and a holding company, spread over nine sites. More than 9,000 employees generated a total revenue of EUR 3.2 billion during the business year 2015/16. Investment volume over the past ten years amounted to significantly over EUR 3 billion, the average export quota was around 67 percent. The Group is currently investing over EUR 100 million in a new wire rod mill at the Leoben-Donawitz site, close to the Formula 1 racetrack. The mill will be the most modern of its kind in Europe, and from the end of 2016 will produce quality wire, particularly for the automotive industry. voestalpine companies in Styria are currently training around 350 apprentices in 16 skilled trades, securing their future employment prospects.

The voestalpine Group

In its business segments, voestalpine is a globally leading technology and capital goods group with a unique combination of material and processing expertise. voestalpine, which operates globally, has around 500 Group companies and locations in more than 50 countries on all five continents. It has been listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange since 1995. With its top-quality products and system solutions using steel and other metals, it is one of the leading partners to the automotive and consumer goods industries in Europe and to the oil and gas industries worldwide. The voestalpine Group is also the world market leader in turnout technology, special rails, tool steel, and special sections. In the business year 2015/16, the Group generated revenue of EUR 11.1 billion, with an operating result (EBITDA) of EUR 1.6 billion; it has 48,500 employees worldwide, who are collectively a major shareholder in the company with a stake of 14.5 percent.