Red Bull facing “difficult” F1 title fight if Austria upgrades fail to deliver

Helmut Marko believes Red Bull’s already slim chances of winning the 2025 Formula 1 title will diminish further if its planned upgrade for the Austrian Grand Prix fails to deliver the expected gains.

Having already brought a revised front wing, floor and sidepods during the recent run of European races, Red Bull is planning a further update at Spielberg this weekend to close the gap to the front.

While the chances of winning the constructors’ championship are all but over, with the team having slipped to fourth in the championship and more than 200 points behind McLaren, Max Verstappen is still an outside contender for the drivers’ title.

Thanks to victories at Suzuka and Imola, the Dutchman sits third in the title race behind McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, with a 43-point gap to bridge in the remaining 14 races of the season.

Red Bull’s advisor Marko believes Verstappen’s hope of a fifth consecutive title hinges on the planned upgrade in Austria, with the team set to switch focus to the development of its 2026 car by the end of July.

“We're getting an update for Austria, which will then be further refined for Silverstone,” Marko told Kleine Zeitung. “But if that doesn't work, things will get difficult in the world championship. And it's not as if things aren't difficult enough already.”

The RB21 has been notoriously tricky to drive, with Verstappen, Liam Lawson, and Yuki Tsunoda all voicing concerns about its handling characteristics.

Only Verstappen has been able to tame the car and race anywhere near the front, with Lawson demoted from the team after just weekends due to a lack of results, and Tsunoda only managing seven points since taking over from the Kiwi in April.

Marko said Red Bull has been unable to fix some of the underlying weaknesses with the RB21, with its narrow operational window leaving the team off the pace at most circuits on the calendar.

“We've been seeing the same tendencies in the car for two years now,” the 81-year-old explained. “It jumps over kerbs, and has a tendency to understeer when turning, which then turns into oversteer. In other words, the balance on the rear axle isn't right.

“But if we're within a very narrow working window and the track suits us, like in Jeddah or Suzuka—Imola and Montreal weren't too bad either—then it's fine. But the working window is extremely narrow.”

In an interview in March, Marko stated that he sees four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel as the “ideal successor” for his role at Red Bull, as he ponders retiring from F1 in the coming years.

However, the Austrian’s focus remains on turning around Red Bull’s F1 team amid its competitive struggles and the loss of key staff members including design guru Adrian Newey and sporting director Jonathan Wheatley.

“My contract runs until the end of 2026,” he revealed. “Right now, the main focus is on getting the team back on track for winning.

“A lot of that depends on the technology, even though we had a setback with our pit stops. But that was understandable; the last few stops worked, and our strategy was good again.

“Everything has to be 100 per cent right for us to have a chance against McLaren. But that's not easy, because we practically only have one driver. And it doesn't matter who you choose: since 2016, since Max has been in the car, every second driver has, sooner or later, retired, failed, or been crushed by Max.”