Red Bull wary of McLaren's Norris ahead of home race in Austria

Red Bull will need to be cautious of McLaren's Lando Norris at the Austrian Grand Prix, which has been dominated by Max Verstappen in previous years. However, this time it appears to be a close battle between the two drivers.

The 11th round of the Formula 1 season will feature a sprint weekend, with a 100km race at Spielberg's Red Bull Ring on Saturday followed by the main event on Sunday.

Red Bull's triple world champion, supported by his enthusiastic orange army of fans, will aim to extend his 69-point lead over Norris, who is his closest competitor in the papaya-liveried McLaren.

Norris is determined to prove himself after securing pole position in Spain last Sunday and finishing second. He also finished as the runner-up in Canada, feeling that he should have won both races.

Spielberg has the shortest lap time on the calendar, with Verstappen taking pole position last year in just over 64 seconds.

Red Bull principal Christian Horner acknowledged the tight competition, stating, "On such a short lap, it's going to be a close battle. We expect McLaren and Lando to be fast again. As for Ferrari and Mercedes, who knows? The gap to those teams after the Spanish race was similar to last year. Lando is the one who has stepped up."

"We're currently facing tough competition for the wins, and as a team, we need to be at the top of our game. That's Formula 1, and that's how it should be," Horner added.

Norris, who won in Miami in May, has also finished as the runner-up in Imola and China. Last year's Austrian race, won by Verstappen for the fourth time in six years, was where McLaren introduced significant upgrades.

The British driver has achieved second place 10 times in 23 races. He trailed Verstappen by 2.2 seconds in Barcelona and 3.8 seconds in Canada. The gap at Imola was 0.7 seconds, and he outperformed the Dutch driver by 7.6 seconds in Miami.

Austria, followed by Silverstone, are circuits where Norris has performed well in the past.

"We're on a good streak. We're doing well... I just need to fine-tune a few details, and we'll be on top," Norris expressed in Spain.

Verstappen and Norris' teammates, Sergio Perez and Oscar Piastri, will be looking to bounce back after their disappointing results in Spain - Perez finishing only eighth and Piastri in seventh place.

Mercedes and Ferrari are expected to be strong contenders, with Lewis Hamilton securing his first podium of the season in Spain and Carlos Sainz holding the race lap record at the Red Bull Ring.

Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, warned that the upcoming race at the Red Bull Ring will present a different challenge compared to the previous weekend in Spain, with a mix of low to mid-speed corners and long straights.

The issues faced last year, where results were revised hours after the race due to penalties for track limit violations, should not be a concern this time around as gravel traps have been added to turns nine and 10.