Red Bull are ‘not really convinced’ by what McLaren have said about Lando Norris’ F1 car

Red Bull risk losing the constructors’ championship to McLaren for the second year in a row, as Yuki Tsunoda is leaving them fighting single-handedly with Max Verstappen.

McLaren won their first teams’ title since 1998 last season, as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri punished Red Bull for Sergio Perez’s plight. The Mexican only penned 152 of their 589 points and Red Bull risk a repeat with Tsunoda this term, as Verstappen has 136 of their 143 points.

Tsunoda has only earned seven points since his promotion from Racing Bulls to replace Liam Lawson in April. The Japanese star’s want of results in the RB21, and the Kiwi’s earlier issues in the car, put Red Bull 176 points behind McLaren in the F1 constructors’ standings already.

McLaren have also won six of the first eight Grands Prix to start the 2025 F1 season with just Verstappen able to disrupt Norris and Piastri’s dominance. The Dutchman won the Japanese GP and Emilia Romagna GP, but he has still not recorded back-to-back podiums this season.

Red Bull are ‘not really convinced’ McLaren’s first floor upgrade of 2025 was only a test

McLaren have sporadically introduced upgrades to the MCL39 to try to maintain their status ahead of Red Bull. But the Woking natives have not introduced any major packages, instead favouring small changes to their front plus rear brake winglets and suspension components.

READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

They also introduced a floor upgrade at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which McLaren fitted on Piastri’s car in FP1 and Norris’ in FP2. But the papaya squad did not race it and it has not been seen since, despite the upgraded rear diffuser being designed to increase downforce.

McLaren argued their floor upgrade in Jeddah was a test to gather data. But AutoRacer now reports that while McLaren ‘scares’ Red Bull with their first major set coming at the Austrian Grand Prix, Red Bull are ‘not really convinced’ by McLaren’s excuse about the floor upgrade.

What did Andrea Stella say about McLaren’s un-raced floor upgrade at the Saudi Arabian GP?

AutoRacer does not claim which area(s) of their 2025 F1 car McLaren will look to improve at the Austrian GP on July 27-29 with the planned upgrade package that ‘scares’ Red Bull. But McLaren team principal Andrea Stella stated in Saudi Arabia that the floor was simply a test.

“We actually didn’t use it,” Stella explained, via quotes by The Race. “There’s nothing in the car that is of a new specification. Some of the things we declared, they were test items. We tested them in practice [but] we didn’t adopt them.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links

Naturally, however, if the floor upgrade McLaren tested at the Saudi Arabian GP had proved to be successful, then the Woking crew would likely have fitted it to Norris and Piastri’s cars either in Jeddah or ahead of one of the following Grands Prix in Miami, Imola and Monaco.

But the data that McLaren collected in Jeddah, even if Red Bull doubt it was a test, may help towards them producing an even more improved rear diffuser as part of the team’s upgrade package due in Austria. Red Bull may then wish McLaren stuck with the floor seen in Jeddah.