Red Bull Racing has set its sights on achieving Formula 1’s minimum weight requirements by the time the Austrian Grand Prix arrives, following encouraging signs of improvement during the Miami Grand Prix weekend. Max Verstappen described the team’s performance in Florida as representing “light at the end of the tunnel” after a challenging start to the 2026 season, despite finishing fifth in the race.
The Milton Keynes-based squad appears to have made substantial progress with their latest upgrade package, which included extensively redesigned sidepods and a new floor specification. Technical Director Pierre Wache confirmed that the developments delivered the expected performance gains, telling Autosport: “Yes, it delivered what we expected. It’s just the package itself that has delivered. And after we fixed some other issues, that has also brought some [extra] Max performance that maybe we didn’t expect.”
A crucial element in Red Bull’s improvement has been resolving steering system problems that had been hampering Verstappen’s ability to extract maximum performance from the RB22. These fixes, combined with the aerodynamic upgrades, allowed the three-time world champion to push harder than he had been able to during the opening rounds of the campaign.
The Miami upgrades marked a significant contrast to Red Bull’s earlier development efforts this season. While Verstappen had indicated that the initial updates introduced at the Japanese Grand Prix made minimal impact, the Florida package represented the team’s first genuine step forward in 2026, even when compared to the progress made by rivals McLaren and Ferrari, who also brought major upgrade packages to the Miami International Autodrome.