Max Verstappen boost as Red Bull delivers significant upgrade

Red Bull is set to introduce a sizeable upgrade package to its RB21 at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, sources close to the Milton Keynes team have suggested. 

Apart from the obvious adaptations to the car for wing-levels at the high-speed Jeddah circuit, upgrades Red Bull is bringing will not be immediately visible when the car is running on track with the main area of focus being the underfloor aerodynamics. 

The central section of the floor will be modified where it connects with the Venturi channels at the side, thus creating a different pressure management underneath the car, and moving the centre of aerodynamic pressure rearwards. 

In addition to the aerodynamic upgrades, it is also believed that the mechanical packaging inside the sidepods will be changed to simplify the internal fluid dynamics, but also to play with the weight distribution with the tiny freedoms permitted by the regulations. 

Like the Ferrari SF-25, the RB21 is a sort of mismatch between the aerodynamic configuration and the vehicle dynamics, which is the current cause of the lack of balance and overall performance being endured by Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda.

The team believes that pure performance can be extracted in a proper way with the development programme, with Saudi Arabia being the first step in three development steps, with the second due for Miami and the final piece for Imola.

It is 'all in' for Red Bull, as it aims to recover and provide a stable performance platform across the next three races.