McLaren and Red Bull have both brought minor upgrades to Jeddah for the 2025 Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Throughout the grid, the majority of runners have made subtle tweaks to their machines to cope with the low-speed demands of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Still, this hasn’t stopped McLaren from altering a big element to its MCL39 challenger in the form of reshaping the rear diffuser.
According to the FIA’s car presentation document, this change is intended “to improve overall flow conditioning in this area, with the aim of gaining aerodynamic performance.”
Moreover, McLaren has altered the rear brake duct winglets on its 2025 machine which should result “in an improvement in local flowfield around the rear corner translating to an increase in aerodynamic efficiency.”
Speaking ahead of the GP weekend in Saudi, McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella said, “After a successful weekend in Bahrain, we immediately turn our attention to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
“ We feel encouraged by our performance thanks to the hard work of everyone in the team who have delivered a fast car.
“The Jeddah Corniche Circuit is one of the fastest circuits in the calendar, with opportunities for overtaking, and a softer tyre allocation compared to the past, which could make for an exciting race.
“As always, we keep focused and hope to close out this triple-header with another positive result for the team.”
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri won last time out, and the team looks set to grab its first victory in Jeddah this weekend.
Red Bull altering its RB21 for low-drag venues
A gentle evolution is being brought to the Red Bull RB21 this weekend, and one change could be a direct response to a pitfall the team endured last year.
At low-drag high-speed circuits, Red Bull ran a higher downforce rear wing than their competitors in 2024, but this weekend, the team has made alterations to the beam wing on the RB21 to contend with Jeddah’s demands.
A reduced chord and camber on the beam wing brings “a step to reduce the downforce at a given speed to observe the lift/drag requirements for this circuit,” reads the FIA’s car presentation doc.
In addition, Red Bull has altered its engine cover to allow for additional cooling, with the big upgrades to the team’s 2025 car coming to Imola in a few rounds’ time that are desperately needed after a below-par showing in Bahrain.
Several teams have made rear wing modifications to cope with the demands of the Jeddah circuit, including Ferrari, Aston Martin and Haas (which has also modified its front wing).
Racing Bulls and Sauber have also made front and rear wing changes, with the latter, currently employing the slowest package on the F1 grid, also revising its floor geometry in a bid to improve overall performance.
READ MORE – Five talking points ahead of the 2025 Saudi Arabian GP
