Red Bull confirms major upgrade package for Baku, but it's the last one for 2026

Red Bull Racing is heading to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with a significant technical update aimed at reclaiming their competitive edge. As the paddock arrives at the Baku City Circuit, the developmental arms race is intensifying, with Williams having long targeted this event and McLaren arriving with heavily revised sidepods.

Technical Breakdown: The Quest for Local Load

To complement this aerodynamic shift, the technical team, led by Pierre Waché, has also modified the sidepod configuration and mirror assembly geometry. Red Bull has confirmed that both Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar will utilize this identical specification throughout the weekend.

"It's most probably our last significant package," Mekies explained. "We have switched a significant part of our resources, a very large majority of our resources, to next year's car. Now, it doesn't mean that we don't look at this season anymore. At first, we are still chasing our first win and that's an important target for the team."

Chasing the Podium: The Upward Trend

Red Bull's recent performance suggests they are moving in the right direction, even if they haven't yet regained absolute dominance. Verstappen has secured a podium finish in five of the last seven Grands Prix, including recent showings in Monza and Madrid.

However, Mekies remains pragmatic about the gap to the front. Despite these improvements, the team is still fighting to bridge the final tenths of a second required to challenge for wins consistently. This struggle mirrors the technical challenges seen in earlier Red Bull upgrades in Miami, where the team sought to find immediate performance gains.

"We are close, but we always knew the last one, two or three tenths would be the most difficult to gain compared to the best competition," Mekies added. "There are four teams that pretty much are in within these two or three tenths... whether or not it's going to be enough to get that last step that will give us the fastest car pace, for that we think we still have some work to do."

If a victory fails to materialize in the remaining races, Red Bull faces a historic milestone: it would be the first season since 2015 that neither the team nor Verstappen has secured a Grand Prix win.