Red Bull gives mixed verdict on F1 Belgian GP upgrade package

Red Bull believes its new upgrade package for the Belgian Grand Prix has delivered a clear performance boost, but admits it hasn’t gone far enough in addressing the RB21’s persistent balance issues.

Red Bull introduced a comprehensive suite of updates at Spa-Francorchamps, including revisions to the front wing, sidepod inlet, engine cover, front suspension, and rear corner.

The changes played a part in Max Verstappen winning Saturday’s sprint race from pole position, but the Dutchman lacked the pace to challenge for the victory in the grand prix, ending up more than 21s down in fourth place.

Like its predecessor, the RB21 has been hamstruck by balance issues this year, preventing reigning world champion Verstappen and teammate Yuki Tsunoda from unlocking the full pace of the car.

After the first 13 rounds of the season, Red Bull has only accumulated 192 points so far, while runaway leader McLaren has amassed 516 points so far.

Speaking after Sunday’s race, newly-appointed Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said the new upgrade package was worth introducing as it has brought tangible improvements to the performance of the car.

However, at the same time, he stressed that much remains to be desired, as the RB21 remains a tricky car even with half a season of development.

“Certainly the team is happy with the package in terms of does it bring performance to the car? Yes. Does it bring enough? No.Does it fix all the balance limitations we have? No. It’s as simple as that,” Mekies told the media including Crash.net.

“So that's where we are. We still have some work to do. But there is no question on whether we brought performance to the car. We feel we did obviously.

“We cannot also ignore the fact that McLaren also had a package this weekend, so it's a usual development race between all the teams.”

The Belgian GP marked the first Formula 1 race Mekies attended in his role as Red Bull’s team principal, having taken over from Christian Horner just days after the previous round in Silverstone.

Mekies had only good things to say about the team, as he continues to embed himself in a new and unfamiliar environment at Red Bull.

“Well, after two weeks at the factory trying to meet as many people as possible,” he said. “It was nice to also meet the race team, to also enter into the race dynamics and see how the flows and the process are. But it was super good in terms of getting into a team. 

“And as you would imagine, it's a team where everything is done at the mega level. It's very, very nice group, a very compact group.”