Austrian Grand Prix 2024 Predictions: Norris value to beat Red Bull in home race

This weekend's Austrian Grand Prix is not to be missed with another close race expected after competitive battles during the last two rounds in Canada and Spain.

Read below for my Austrian Grand Prix 2024 predictions and all the latest betting odds.

Austrian Grand Prix Odds

The Red Bull Ring in Spielberg has the shortest lap time on the calendar and a tight qualifying session is anticipated, while it's a sprint-race weekend too, so the drivers don't have much time to get used to the track conditions before the serious stuff begins.

Max Verstappen recorded his seventh victory in this season's 10 races in Barcelona last week, but Lando Norris was a close second and the top two in the championship look set for another fascinating battle.

The world champion leads this year's standings by 69 points but McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes are all in the hunt for podium places this week and forecast thunderstorms could also have a role to play on Sunday.

Lando Norris race winner @ 3/1

While Max Verstappen has won the majority of this season's F1 races, he is yet to win three in a row and he may be denied a treble for the third time by Lando Norris, who is emerging as the world champion's chief rival.

Verstappen still holds a comfortable 69-point lead in the championship as he seeks a fourth world title, but Norris was right on his tail in the last two races in Canada and Spain.

The British driver lost the lead in Montreal during a late safety-car period, while he was on pole in Barcelona and appeared to have the fastest car throughout the race. He lost two places at the first corner, though, and his comeback drive finished just 2.2 seconds short of Verstappen.

The Dutch driver has a strong but not impeccable record in Red Bull's home race, winning in four of the last six years, with Valtteri Bottas triumphing for Mercedes in 2020 and Charles Leclerc for Ferrari in 2022.

Verstappen also won the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring but was only third behind Lewis Hamilton in that event in 2020.

Norris has shown up well at this track in less competitive cars so should be set for a strong race now McLaren have raised their game. He posted the best result of his rookie season in Spielberg when sixth and registered his first career podium finish at the circuit when third in 2020.

Norris was also third in 2021, while his fourth place last year heralded a leap forward in form for the team after an extensive mid-season upgrade.

The gap on the track between the top-two drivers in the market may not be as big this week as the odds suggest.

Nico Hulkenberg points finish @ 2/1

Anyone who has been regularly backing Nico Hulkenberg to finish in the points for Haas in recent races would be pretty frustrated by now as he has four 11th places and a retirement over the last five rounds of the championship.

Hulkenberg missed the top 10 by just half a second in Canada and was again close last week, coming home eight seconds behind 10th-placed Esteban Ocon having qualified five places behind the Frenchman in 13th.

Haas had a strong weekend at the Red Bull Ring last year, though, with Hulkenberg qualifying a fantastic fourth for the sprint race and coming home an impressive sixth. In the main event he qualified eighth but had to retire when his power unit failed.

The German was in the points in Saudi Arabia, Australia and China before his run of 11th places began in Miami, although he had been seventh in the sprint in Florida and remains a capable performer when his car is suited to the track.

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