Austrian Grand Prix Prediction and Betting Tips: Three selections for Sunday's race

The F1 world championship is becoming more competitive by the round as the teams head to Spielberg for Red Bull's home race in the Austrian Grand Prix. 

World champion Max Verstappen has won two of the last three races at the track with the shortest lap time on the F1 calendar but could be feeling the heat after just fending off a charging Lando Norris in the last two rounds in Canada and Spain. 

It's a sprint-race weekend, so the action will be coming thick and fast as the world champion bids to extend his 69-point lead over Norris in the title race.

McLaren's Lando Norris has risen to second place in the Championship standings after finishing in the top two places at five of the last six races. He can now take the battle into Red Bull's back yard at the Red Bull ring this week.

Norris has moved past both Ferraris in the standings with his rapid improvement this season and the fact that he was frustrated after his close second to Verstappen in Barcelona last week shows how far he and his team have come.

Verstappen has been disappearing over the horizon for easy victories over much of the last couple of seasons, but that has not been the case in recent races as he beat Norris by just 3.8 seconds in Canada and a rapidly diminishing 2.2 seconds in Spain.

The McLaren man was kicking himself last week having taken his second career pole position but losing two places on the long run down to the first corner. He looked to have the fastest car on the track last weekend, though, and looks overpriced to stand on the top step of the podium again.

Verstappen remains a strong contender to give Red Bull another home win but he has been beaten at the track before, with Valtteri Bottas winning in Austria in 2020 and Charles Leclerc in 2022, while Lewis Hamilton won the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix at the circuit.

At 3/1, Norris is a very competitive bet.

George Russell has not been contending for race wins as often as he would have expected in his first three seasons with Mercedes as his arrival coincided with a downturn in fortunes for the formerly dominant team.

However, things are looking up for the German manufacturer again now; Russell and team-mate Lewis Hamilton have finished third and fourth in the last two races.

With Ferrari looking to be a step behind Mercedes and McLaren in Barcelona, Russell should be in the hunt for his second podium finish of the season in Austria.

The British driver was a close-up third in Canada after taking pole and finished fourth in Spain to rubber-stamp the team's recent return to the top tier.

Russell enjoyed two good race runs in Spielberg last season, climbing from 15th on the grid to eighth in the sprint and improving from 11th to seventh in the Grand Prix. With a stronger car this season he can have third place in his sights at 6/1.

Now the top four teams are all back in form, there are not as many points available for the midfield teams to fight over at most races but Alpine have been making the most of their opportunities.

It helps their cause that Aston Martin have fallen off the pace in recent weeks, while the RB team disappointed in Spain.

Haas could put in an improved effort at a track where Nico Hulkenberg was sixth in last year's sprint race, but Pierre Gasly has a solid chance of adding to the five points he has collected over the last three races.

Gasly has previously scored points at the track for Red Bull and Alpha Tauri and was 10th for his current team in last year's race after qualifying ninth.

The Frenchman has just signed a multi-year contract extension with the team, so he should be fully motivated in his bid to claim a fourth straight points finish at 6/4 with bet365.