Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has revealed that the team will bring its remaining cycle of Formula 1 upgrades in 2025 to the Austrian and British Grands Prix.
The Milton Keynes-based squad currently lies fourth in the Constructors’ Championship after a difficult start to the campaign with a capricious-handling RB21 car.
Heading to its home race this weekend, Marko has divulged that the team will bring an upgrade package to the Red Bull Ring to add to the new parts adopted at Imola.
“We are now getting an update for Austria, which will then be refined again for Silverstone,” he told Kleine Zeitung.
The 82-year-old also suggested that with the 2026 regulations reset around the corner, these upgrades will be the team’s final push to strengthen its position in the title fight.
“But if that doesn’t work either, then it will be difficult in the world championship. And it’s not as if it’s not difficult enough already,” admitted Marko.
“There is a precise breakdown of how the wind tunnel and all the tools are used.
At some point, however, people will say: ‘That’s it for further development.’ For two reasons: Time – and the production of new parts takes time – and the cost cap.
“So, the question is: where do you spend your resources? I assume that after Silverstone or Spa [25-27 July], at the latest, there will be a decision to focus entirely on the new car.”
Red Bull’s critical tyre disadvantage to McLaren in 2025
Marko has assessed that the RB21 is three tenths off the speed of the McLaren, but the team’s struggles with tyre degradation have been augmenting the pace deficit.
“It’s not just us who have problems with the tyres, everyone except McLaren is struggling. We are currently probably three tenths behind McLaren, but in a much smaller working window, which makes it even more difficult. It’s not impossible to make up the three tenths, but it has to come now,” he conceded.
Max Verstappen has a stellar record at Austria, though, winning an unprecedented five times on Red Bull’s home soil.
Marko believes this could play into the team’s favour. “Max has won here five times; the track suits him,” he asserted.
The erstwhile Austrian racing driver harbours hope that the impending upgrade package widens the working window of the car, critical to the team’s prospects going forward.
“If the track suits us, like in Jeddah or Suzuka – Imola and Montreal weren’t too bad either – then it works. But the working window is extremely small,” he concluded.
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