Red Bull Targeting FIA Minimum Weight Limit by Austrian Grand Prix After Miami Upgrade Halves RB22 Deficit

Red Bull made measurable progress at the Miami Grand Prix, introducing a significant upgrade package that included heavily revised sidepods and a new floor — developments that technical director Pierre Wache says delivered precisely what the team anticipated.

Speaking to Autosport, Wache confirmed the upgrades met internal expectations and that resolving a separate steering system issue yielded additional performance gains. “Yes, it delivered what we expected. It’s just the package itself that has delivered. And after we fixed some other issues, that has also brought some [extra] Max performance that maybe we didn’t expect,” he said.

The steering fix is particularly significant for Max Verstappen, who had struggled to push the car to its limits in the opening rounds of the 2026 season. Verstappen himself described the Miami weekend as “light at the end of the tunnel” for the team, even though his fifth-place finish in the race did not fully reflect the car’s underlying pace improvements.

The Miami upgrades represent Red Bull’s first genuine step forward in 2026 — one that came in a field where McLaren and Ferrari also arrived in Florida with substantial development packages. The competitive picture is set to shift further in the coming rounds, with Mercedes having signalled a major upgrade for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. Wache, however, indicated Red Bull’s focus for Canada will be more modest. “We have to wait a little bit longer, just a little step for Montreal,” he confirmed.

Instead, the team is channelling its primary development resources toward the European calendar. Central to that push is resolving the RB22’s weight issue. The car began the 2026 season running 12 kilograms over the FIA’s minimum weight limit of 768kg — a figure applicable to all competitors this year. The Miami package reduced that surplus by half, bringing the excess down to six kilograms across Verstappen’s and Isack Hadjar’s cars.

Wache confirmed further weight reduction is planned, with Austria emerging as the likely target window. “Yes, I think there will be another step. I don’t know when, but we will have a weight reduction happening for maybe Austria,” he said. The Austrian Grand Prix is scheduled to take place at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, a circuit where the team has historically performed strongly.

Reaching the minimum weight limit is a meaningful performance lever in Formula 1. Every kilogram above the minimum represents ballast that cannot be converted into performance, limiting a team’s ability to optimise weight distribution and overall lap time. Red Bull’s rivals, if already closer to or at the limit, hold a structural advantage that compounds over a race distance.

Despite the positive trajectory, Wache acknowledged the frustration of Miami’s final classification not reflecting the car’s competitive level. “It’s not easy, but I’m for sure disappointed with the result. I think the result [in Miami] doesn’t show our pace. But it’s good for the team to show that the car has some pace on it and that we are in the mix again,” he said.

By contrast, the first upgrade package introduced at the Japanese Grand Prix earlier in the season made little tangible difference, according to Verstappen — making the Miami step a critical confidence boost for the squad. With the European season offering Red Bull consecutive home-territory races and planned technical developments, the team will be looking to close the gap to the frontrunners before the championship reaches its midpoint.