It had been six years since the Formula 1 cars had visited Zeltweg aerodrome and in the interim the local organizers had built a magnificent new racing circuit in a natural bowl on the hillside of the valley. The track featured a series of fast corners, fast climbs and diving descents. It was marvelous. Rindt (who had made his F1 debut at the 1964 race) returned home with a huge lead in the World Championship and took pole position with his Lotus 72.

The field was much as it had been a fortnight earlier at Hockenheim although Frank Williams ran Tim Schenken in the De Tomaso as Brian Redman was committed to a sportscar race elsewhere. Ferrari decided to run three cars and so Jacky Ickx was supported by Clay Regazzoni and Ignazio Giunti. Missing were Graham Hill in the Walker Lotus 49, the car no longer being competitive, and Ronnie Peterson in the Antique Automobiles March, which had run out of engines.

Regazzoni's rise to stardom continued as he qualified on the front row alongside Rindt while Ickx was on row two with Jackie Stewart in the Tyrrell March. Giunti was on the third row with Chris Amon's March. Also beginning to show well was François Cévert, Stewart's teammate, who was ninth.

There was a huge crowd for the race on Sunday but they were to be disappointed as Regazzoni and Ickx took off into the lead while Rindt went out early with an engine failure. On the second lap Regazzoni waved Ickx ahead and for the rest of the afternoon the red cars dominated, finishing 1-2 a minute and a half ahead of third-placed Rolf Stommelen, who drove a good race early on and then moved up the order as others fell by the wayside. For a long time Beltoise was third in his Matra but he suffered fuel pick up problems in the closing laps and dropped behind Stommelen and the two BRMs of Pedro Rodríguez and Jackie Oliver.