Max Verstappen had asked for it, and Red Bull responded. The Austrian team brought its first updates to Suzuka. They did so at their “home” Grand Prix, considering that the power unit powering their cars is of Japanese manufacture. We’re talking about minor corrections: about 1mm less thickness on the rear pull-rod and a slight slimming of the engine cover. These were changes that certainly couldn’t make a real difference.
The necessary step forward with the RB21
Red Bull needs to take a definite step forward. The brilliant victory in Japan wasn’t due to the extreme competitiveness of the RB21. Clearly, the Austrian car has a solid base, but it’s not enough to compete on equal terms with the super McLaren. Talent alone from Hasselt is no longer enough. The MCL39 has shown great strength in this early phase of the 2025 season. The team’s veteran advisor and former world champion, Helmut Marko, made his usual bold statement.
Before the Japanese weekend, he even claimed that the papaya-colored cars could display the same dominance that the RB19 had in 2023. As far as we’re concerned, that comment was an exaggeration—and in fact, in Suzuka, his statement was quickly disproved, as often happens. Although the Woking cars are the benchmark of the top class, the gap they hold over the rest of the competition isn’t that significant.
But the reigning Formula 1 world champion doesn’t care about that. Max Verstappen wants a faster Red Bull and, above all, one that is more predictable in terms of handling. A car that, regardless of conditions, doesn’t require enormous setup work from Friday to Saturday, and that doesn’t rely on “sporting miracles” during qualifying and the race to compete at the top in any scenario—even on tracks that don’t suit the base characteristics of the car.
Red Bull updates: revised suspension for Jeddah, new floor for Imola
According to information gathered by our editorial team, Red Bull is preparing an aerodynamic upgrade package for the Imola Grand Prix. That’s race 7 of the season, while for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the team is expected to bring various technical adjustments—not necessarily visible, but very useful for improving tyre degradation levels on track.
Let’s clarify: for the first of the two Italian rounds, we expect several updates to the RB21—a classic point in the season where teams tend to introduce car developments, after the first part of the calendar has helped improve understanding of the F1 machinery. We’re talking about a new floor and some localized upgrades. As for the Saudi round, things are more complex.
That’s because improving tyre degradation doesn’t have a single, clear parameter to modify. It’s a combination of factors that need improvement. In this regard, based on the current state of the Austrian car, there are two areas that the team led by Pierre Waché is focusing on. We know that in F1, tyre degradation has both mechanical and thermal aspects.
On the mechanical side, we’ll see changes related to suspension kinematics, along with possible modifications to internal components if needed. As for the thermal aspect, things get even trickier, since the goal is to stabilize temperatures across both axles of the car. The RB21 injects a high amount of energy into the tyre compound, often causing unwanted overheating.
The comparison is with McLaren, which is currently the category benchmark, although the two MCL39s have also shown some tyre management struggles in certain conditions. In Japan, it’s no coincidence that Red Bull appeared much stronger during the race—thanks in part to lower temperatures. This is also why Verstappen was able to shine, partially neutralizing the strength of the British team.
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