Red Bull are due to reveal their first major set of upgrades for the RB21 at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in their hope of reducing a growing deficit to McLaren at Imola.
The Milton Keynes crew head to Italy for the first European round of the 2025 F1 season this weekend trailing their rivals from Woking by 141 points. Red Bull would still not be ahead of McLaren in the constructors’ standings if they combined their points with Mercedes, as well.
Such has been the plight that Red Bull have endured this year that Max Verstappen also now trails Oscar Piastri by 32 points in the F1 drivers’ championship. He may be the only non-Red Bull driver to win a Grand Prix this term but finished 39.956 seconds behind Piastri in Miami.
So, Red Bull plan to kick off the European leg of the 2025 season by revealing upgrades they hope can eat into McLaren’s advantage. They have also taken inspiration from the MCL39 to find ways to improve the RB21 having studied McLaren’s car since the Australian Grand Prix.
Red Bull will take a ‘leap of faith’ with their McLaren-inspired brake upgrade
That is according to The Race, which reports Red Bull have carefully examined how McLaren have designed their brakes and have upgrades coming for the RB21 inspired by those on the MCL39. There will only be marginal differences, but Red Bull think it can make a vital impact.
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| Position | Drivers’ Championship | Points |
| 1 |
Oscar Piastri |
131 |
| 2 |
Lando Norris |
115 |
| 3 |
Max Verstappen |
99 |
| 4 |
George Russell |
93 |
| 5 |
Charles Leclerc |
53 |
| 6 |
Andrea Kimi Antonelli |
48 |
| 7 |
Lewis Hamilton |
41 |
Engineers in Milton Keynes suspect McLaren are controlling their tyre temperatures through the brake drums and the inner sidewall of the tyres. So, Red Bull have designed a new brake bell configuration and revised cooling ducts of their own to see if they can mimic that effect.
Yet their upgrades are still unproven, so Red Bull will be taking a ‘leap of faith’ when they do put their new brakes on Verstappen’s RB21 – potentially at Imola for the Emilia Romagna GP this weekend – to collect definitive proof about the impact of their McLaren-inspired design.
Max Verstappen needs more upgrades from Red Bull than their brake drums to fight for the title
Red Bull have suffered severely with thermal tyre degradation so far this season, which has caused Verstappen to fall away from Piastri and Lando Norris in many of the races owing to the superiority that McLaren have established in keeping the life in their tyres for far longer.
But it is not the only issue Verstappen has taken issue with this year. So, Red Bull’s McLaren-inspired brake upgrade may not be enough to keep them in the title race against the Woking crew. One of Verstappen’s biggest problems with the RB21 may also remain there all season.
Chief engineer Paul Monaghan admits that Red Bull may ‘never’ remove the through-corner balance problem Verstappen hates with the RB21. The car can lurch from having a light rear end under braking to having understeer as Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda approach the apex.
