Red Bull still pressing for Verstappen title – The perceived wisdom in the world of Formula One is that with the huge new regulation changes coming in 2026, development of this season’s racing machines is now finished with resources focused on next season. Williams were the first team to abandon their 2025 upgrade programme back in May something which made newbie driver Carlos Sainz “angry.”
“I think this car has a lot of potential,” the Spaniard lamented in Miami. “If we could really develop it and put the improvements I could ask the team to make in the wind tunnel, and improve two or three things on the car that are currently not so good, I’m convinced the team could make huge strides forward.”
Sainz explained the decision had been made already “not to invest in this year’s car and to put all the budget and wind tunnel hours into the 2026 car and focus on that.
Teams bail on 2025 car development
“It even makes me angry, because when you see that you are three tenths from pole and you still see the great potential that we have ahead of us, in only my sixth race, and with a car that still has several points that I don’t like, I would like to see what we would be capable of doing.”
Williams of course are in a solid fifth place in the constructors’ title race and Sainz’s podium last tie out in Baku means remarkably they have scored more points this season to date than in the previous four combined.
Now with most team’s including Ferrari focusing on their 2026 racing prototypes, Red Bull are b sucking the trend as they continue to bring improvements to their RB21. There was a definitive upgrade two races ago in Monza as a radical new floor delivered incremental downforce which brought Verstappen the race win in Ferrari’s own back yard.
The floor was again proven to be a significant improvement in Baku when McLaren team boss expressed his concerns over the improvements to the Red Bull Racing car. After qualifying in Azerbaijan Andrea Stella was asked about Verstappen’s potential comeback in a drivers’ championship which had been dominated by Norris and Piastri. He is “a serious serious contender” was the conclusion of the McLaren team principal despite the four times champion being 94 points behind Oscar Piastri.
McLaren fear Red Bull upgrades
Following the race which saw his Aussie driver hit the wall on lap one, Stella expressed further concern. “I used the capital letters already… We’re talking about Max Verstappen, we’re talking about Red Bull,” as th gap now dwindled to 69 points.
“We have already seen in Monza that they improved. They seem to have made an improvement with their car, because the way they won Monza was something more for what was our assessment than simply a car that adapts well at low drag.
“They were fast in the corners, medium-speed and low-speed corners, fast in the straights, and we know that Max, when he has a competitive car, can deliver strong weekends.”
This weekend in Singapore will be the real test of Red Bull’s progress given the Marina Bay circuit is the only current track on the calendar where Max has failed to claim victory. But in support of his title defence once again Red Bull have rung the changes with upgrades to the RB21.
New Red Bull floor makes the difference
Whilst on the face of it Verstappen has ruled himself out of this seasons drivers championship, deep inside is a fire that burns to claim a record fifth consecutive title and Red Bull are pulling out all the stops.
The Red Bull floor upgrade coincided with two race weekends where the circuits in Monza and Baku are characterised by high speed sections which require low downforce. Singapore where Verstappen has never won is by contrast low downforce and the Red Bull upgrade seeks to improve the RB21’s capabilities at the Marina Bay circuit.
Red Bull have introduced a new front wing with “locally increased cambers to extract more load’. The team claim it is “an evolution of the design, taking further research to increase the camber of some wing sections to extract more load whilst maintaining flow stability”. In non-engineer speak this means the front wing should be of a considerable benefit on the higher downforce track in Singapore.
Singapore has been designated by the FIA as a “heat hazard” and the race has been historically a hot and humid affair where the drivers lose several kilograms of body weight through a loss of fluids during the gruelling race. The race cars too suffer from the heat with teams being forced to open the louvres on their engine covers, something which offers better cooling but at the expense of crucial aerodynamic efficiency.
Red Bull improve RB21 again in Singapore
Red Bull have created an innovative solution for Singapore with a new engine cover with an “enlarged exit from the overall top body which is more efficient than opening louvres or creating larger louvres to raise the overall cooling capacity.” The team believe this will be crucial not just during the marathon race, but in qualifying where Max is attempting his third pole position in a row.
Pole position in Singapore is crucial with almost half the races held since 2008 having been won from this position. For Max claiming the front row is crucial at the Marina Bay circuit where the McLaren superior abilities to manage the tyres could make all the difference.
The only other team bringing any changes to their car is Mercedes, who also have modified their high downforce front wing which “drops the local load to allow an appropriate car balance to be achieved” for the circuit.
Verstappen’s hopes for a record fifth consecutive title rest on McLaren at least once dropping the ball again as they did in Baku. Whilst Singapore has not been a happy hunting ground for the world champion, Oscar Piastri who hit the wall in both qualifying and the race in Azerbaijan will surely be circumspect when it comes to the 19 turns on the Marina Bay circuit.
FIA forces drivers to race under new rules
In another effort from the FIA to make driving a Formula One car even easier, a rule was introduced for 2025 to make the drivers more comfortable in hot conditions. If the temperatures during the race weekend are expected to reach 31 degrees celsius, then a heat hazard will be declared forcing the teams to fit cooling systems for their drivers.
Of course this will add weight to the car and so the minimum limit has been raised by 2kg for practice and Sprint qualifying and by a total of 5kg for Sprint races and Grand Prix.
A driver cooling system is “defined as a system, the sole purpose of which, is to provide additional cooling for the driver”, and was specified as a fireproof shirt which allows cooled fluid to be pumped around the vest through a series of tubes…. READ MORE
A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
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When Monza and Baku are low downforce circuits.
How can Singapore then contrast if you classify that as a low downforce circuit too?