Red Bull has registered a series of updates for the Austrian Grand Prix in its efforts to reclaim ground on the current top three Formula 1 teams, detailing a number of changes to its bodywork and floor.
The team is currently fourth in the constructors’ championship and 52 points shy of McLaren, but remains 32 points clear of fifth-placed Alpine. With a handful of driveability concerns with the current RB22, Red Bull is attempting to make up for these with its latest raft of updates for its home race.
The sidepod inlet has been reprofiled to match previous changes made towards the front end of the car, and with a slight repositioning to ensure the mass flow rate of air into the radiators is kept at its optimum level.
To match this, new engine cover/sidepod bodywork has been produced. This also must fit the new floor, with a few minor changes to the car’s cooling louvres to cope with the extreme heat expected in Austria this weekend.
Small changes to the floor address the “forward floor” area of the car, which includes the bib section underneath the chassis bulkhead and the outer floor boards situated behind the front wheels.
In its pre-event technical notes, the team stated that this should contribute to an increase in local load, while also “improving the downstream conditions for the sidepod and beyond.”
Red Bull made changes to the rear of the 2026 car
Photo by: Ronald Vording
This should link up with the revisions to the rear suspension, with reprofiled fairings for the suspension legs to make use of the new flow conditions produced ahead.
Furthermore, the rear of the car has been afforded additional developments with new rear wing pylons to reduce the sensitivity in the area where it connects to the underside of the rear wing. The team has also reworked the exhaust outlet to make further use of the support bracket winglet to increase downforce.
“I think it’s just crucial,” Max Verstappen stated on Thursday. “I think for us as a team, we want to just improve. From where we started this season to where we want to end it.
“We know that we are lacking performance, so it’s more about just trying to improve the car. I think that’s what everyone wants.”
Elsewhere on the grid, McLaren is testing its own version of the straight-mode ‘Macarena’ wing, although it does not expect to race with the new version, while Mercedes has a couple of small tweaks with new front suspension leg fairings to increase the level at which these are used to condition airflow.
McLaren will test its own ‘Macarena’ wing this weekend
Photo by: Ronald Vording
Ferrari has added to the front wing endplate that the team had introduced in Barcelona, with a few ‘test items’ expected to be used in free practice only. These include a new floor board, and a revised mirror stay.
Racing Bulls modified its diffuser, as it and Mercedes were compelled to change their jagged diffuser extensions as an FIA technical directive moved to outlaw them, while Alpine has a new front wing.
Audi and Cadillac have also made significant changes for Austria as they hope to climb up the order. The former has a new front wing endplate, revised front brake duct deflectors, and a host of changes to the rear end – including a new floor, rear suspension fairings, and both rear and beam wings.
For its part, Cadillac feels its updates could bring the MAC-26 a few tenths of a second; the American team has new sidepods, complete with a new inlet and profile with increased undercut capacity, plus changes to the diffuser surfaces and leading edge of the floor.
There are also a few smaller changes, with a new engine cover fin, revised legs beneath the overhead air intake, and new mirror stays.
Cadillac says its updates could bring a few tenths this weekend
Photo by: Ronald Vording
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– The Autosport.com Team
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