When the world was still so wonderfully analog
09/15/2025
On August 19, 1973, the Austrian Grand Prix took place at the Österreichring. As was customary at the time, the organizers printed a comprehensive program booklet, which, more than 50 years later, turns out to be a highly interesting contemporary document.
What particularly caught our eye: In the middle of the booklet there is a round table to fill in. On the double-page spread, the racegoer could not only note down the drivers and start numbers, but also the starting order and all the positions in the race per driver for each of the 54 laps. Whether there was enough time back then to document everything neatly remains to be seen.
In any case, you were pretty busy, but you also had a good overview. Everything was completely analog.
Today, you pull your phone out of the bag and have direct access to the timekeeping and results, and can probably even see overtaking maneuvers at the other end of the track in the video feed. It's all digital, but somehow less involving!
We also noticed a few other things, such as the advertisements for cigarettes, Mercedes-Benz, the Bosch Racing Team Vienna, Zweirad-Männerträume, Dinitrol (the Formula 1 for perfect rust protection) or Hella wide and wide floodlights.
And yes, because it does seem a little strange, we were surprised by the lead picture on the front page of the program, which showed Emerson Fittipaldi, but not in a Lotus Formula 1, but in the now almost forgotten Lotus Formula 2 (Type 74).
