Mekies: Red Bull Austria upgrade alone won't bridge gap to top three

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has admitted the squad's major Austrian Grand Prix upgrade will not be enough to fully bridge the gap to the top three. After seven rounds, the Milton Keynes outfit sits a distant but secure fourth, unable to match the pace of the leading trio while remaining well clear of the midfield.

Why it matters:

Under the sport's new 2026 regulations, the development race has become a ruthless battleground where early deficits are hard to erase. Red Bull's struggle to escape fourth place underscores how costly a slow start can be for a championship-winning organization. With Ferrari having already made a notable step forward, each upgrade window could decide whether the team claws back into contention or remains stuck in no-man's land.

The details:

• Verstappen has extracted strong results from the RB22 at stop-start venues like Monaco and Canada, where heavy braking and acceleration played to the car's strengths. At conventional tracks such as Barcelona, he settled into a lonely fourth with no way to challenge ahead.
• Mekies confirmed the Austria package is the team's next big push but warned against expecting miracles. "Everyone in Milton Keynes has been working very hard on that package, and there is no doubt that the Austrian upgrade alone will not be enough," he said.
• Since post-Japan, Red Bull has followed a steady trajectory of closing the gap, though Mekies noted the deficit remains around four tenths.
• The team expects tangible lap time from the update, yet acknowledges further upgrades will be necessary to truly fight at the front.

What's next:

Red Bull intends to keep chipping away at the deficit rather than relying on a single fix. The immediate goal is to shrink the gap from roughly four tenths to something more manageable over the next few events. Additional updates planned for later in the European season will likely determine whether Verstappen can rejoin the lead fight or remain capped at fourth.