Red Bull tease upgrades to boost relentless Max Verstappen title bid

Red Bull have teased they have more upgrades in the pipeline to aid Max Verstappen’s unlikely F1 drivers’ championship bid.

With development largely focused on 2026, most teams have stopped bringing updates to their cars. 

However, Red Bull have continued to bring new parts and successively improved their RB21 challenger in recent months.

Red Bull’s impressive turnaround has enabled Verstappen to notch three victories in the last four races, including a dominant win at the United States Grand Prix.

Verstappen’s resurgence has seen the Dutchman cut Oscar Piastri’s championship lead down to 40 points with five weekends still remaining.

Red Bull now appear to boast F1’s quickest car but that seemingly won’t stop them from bringing new upgrades, with advisor Helmut Marko suggesting the team “still have something up our sleeve”.

“We still have something up our sleeve. I don’t know exactly when it will come,” Marko told Austrian publication oe.24 after Sunday’s race in Austin.

“There’s a great atmosphere in the team right now,” Marko added. “You can see that McLaren no longer has that ease. Piastri also struggled a bit more today. I hope it stays that way.

“There is no longer a track where we are not competitive. And if there is, it’s Max who makes the difference.”

McLaren not bringing anymore upgrades

In contrast, McLaren’s drivers will fight for the title with the tools they already have.

Piastri is 14 points clear of teammate and closest rival Lando Norris.

Despite Verstappen catching the McLaren pair, the team remain confident they have sufficient performance in the MCL39 to hold him off.

"When it comes to new upgrades, new parts, then this will not happen for the rest of the season," McLaren team principal Andrea Stella confirmed.

"In terms of the trend, today is a relatively reassuring race, because I think without having to fight with Charles, which was certainly an entertaining fight itself, I think Lando had the pace to win the race today.

"Obviously, he needed to gain the position on track, which is never easy with Max. And with a one-stop strategy, not necessarily we would have had many opportunities from a strategic point of view.

“But performance-wise, I think we are reassured that the pace was sufficient to fight for the victory."