'It will not be enough' - Red Bull boss doubts Austrian F1 upgrade potential
Red Bull has limited expectations for its latest Formula 1 upgrade at the Austrian Grand Prix
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has warned an upgrade package set to debut at the Austrian Grand Prix "will not be enough" to challenge Mercedes or Ferrari for victory.
Ferrari highlighted the power of a significant upgrade package, with Lewis Hamilton taking full advantage of eight major updates to charge to victory in Spain last weekend.
Racing to all new regulations this term, the cars remain very much in their infancy, with plenty of potential to unlock significant pace.
Having been deemed to have the best internal combustion engine [ICE], an outcome that surprised Red Bull, the team did not gain any upgrade tokens for its power unit, meaning improvements will need to come from the chassis side.
"The picture of the season are these performance variations based on who is, is bringing their upgrades," Mekies told media, including Crash.net.
"Ferrari made a big step forward this weekend, obviously, our next big one is in Austria, but it's only as good as the real lap time on track it brings.
"Everyone in Milton Keynes has been working very hard for the package, and there is no doubt that the Austrian package alone will not be enough.
"We know we'll have some further steps needed. But what is important is that on that continuous closing the gap trajectory that we have been on since for Japan is that we continue to get closer, that we don't talk anymore about 4 tenths, but hopefully less.”
While Max Verstappen finished fourth in Spain, this position was aided by the late retirements of Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc.
Taking the flag with over 15 seconds of clear air both in front and behind his Red Bull to the McLaren drivers, it was a quiet race for the Dutchman, although Mekies denies that Red Bull has found itself in somewhat of a no man's land.
“I would not say we are in no man's land," he said.
"You know, we are with the top four, fighting. Not every track layout we can fight for podium. We could fight for a podium, obviously, in Canada and in Monaco, but we could not fight for a podium here, that's fair.
"Nonetheless, I think before the last laps drama, we could beat one Ferrari and one McLaren today was the best we could have done."
Sam joined Crash.net in February 2026 with extensive experience in motorsport media, having covered numerous championships around the world.
