That is a wrap for Red Bull's major development work this season. As Autosport reports, the Milton Keynes-based squad has officially decided that the updates arriving in Baku will be its final notable upgrade package of the Formula 1 campaign, with the technical team led by Pierre Wache directing a very large majority of resources toward the 2027 car.
That final push centers primarily around a brand-new floor, crafted with subtle changes within the permitted geometry to extract more local load while maintaining flow stability. Alongside that new floor, the technical crew has also modified the sidepods and mirror assembly geometry. According to the FIA's technical document, five upgrades in total have been logged for the team, and Red Bull has confirmed that both Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar will have the exact same specification at their disposal this weekend.
Does it mean that we have had the fastest car in any of the races? No,
During Thursday's team principals' press conference, Laurent Mekies laid out the reality of the situation. "We have switched a significant part of our resources, a very large majority of our resources, to next year's car," the Red Bull team principal said. He was quick to clarify that the garage has not entirely checked out on the current season, pointing out that chasing a first victory remains an important target. Because the regulations feature very little change for next year, the remaining rounds still offer huge opportunities to learn and arrive as prepared as possible.
The stakes are certainly high. If a victory fails to materialise before the year is out, it will mark the first season since 2015 that neither Red Bull nor Max Verstappen wins a single grand prix. While Verstappen stopped short of outright predicting a winless year, he did call that scenario very likely in Monza given the current state of affairs.
Yet, there are genuine signs of progress. Verstappen has landed on the podium in five of the last seven rounds, including strong weekends at Monza and Madrid. Mekies acknowledges that the upward trend is positive, even if the team has not quite reached the peak it ideally wants to hit.
"Does it mean that we have had the fastest car in any of the races? No," Mekies noted. With four teams fighting within a window of two or three tenths, a car can slide very quickly from fighting for pole to sitting on the fourth row. While Red Bull feels it is getting closer, the team knows there is still work left to do to unlock that final step of raw pace.
