Formula 1 motorsport boss Ross Brawn was taken aback by the "astonishing lack of reliability" during the Austrian Grand Prix.

Sunday's race saw the least number of finishers since Australia 2008 as just 11 drivers took the chequered flag with Williams' Nicholas Latifi the unlucky driver to miss out on a point.

What was more incredible is all nine retirements were through individual failures whether it be mechanical or operational, such as Kimi Raikkonen's loose wheel.

And it could have been more too, as both Mercedes' nursed their cars for much of the race with sensor issues.

“We are used to Formula 1 cars being bulletproof in the modern era, but there was an astonishing lack of reliability in Sunday’s race, with just 11 of the 20 drivers seeing the chequered flag,” he wrote in his column for Formula1.com.

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“I can’t remember the last time we saw so many mechanical problems in one race. Some of those, of course, will be down to the fact the teams have not run their cars properly since pre-season testing in February.

“We also saw a number of pit stop issues, which showed the rustiness of the teams after a long break without racing.”

It all added to the drama, however, as safety cars threatened to put Red Bull in the pound seats to claim victory through Alex Albon before his clash with Lewis Hamilton.

There was a strategic element added, as Sergio Perez lost out to Charles Leclerc and both McLarens, who changed tyres under the second safety car while he did not.

All of which made the final 20 laps quite the spectacle.

"The positive was we saw some great racing,” he said. “Some of it was a little more robust than might be allowable, but overall some great racing.”

With just one week until the second race also in Austria this Sunday, teams are working hard to find fixes for the issues they had.

But given the timeframe and the logistical hurdles, it may well be that reliability rules again this weekend in Spielberg.