Red Bull dismisses McLaren’s 2026 F1 development claim: 'Wolff said the same in 2021'

Helmut Marko insists Red Bull “knows what it’s doing” with extended development of the 2025 F1 car, in response to McLaren's suggestion it may be sacrificing next year

Helmut Marko dismissed McLaren’s assertion that Red Bull is sacrificing its 2026 preparations to develop this year’s car for longer, stating 'Toto Wolff said the same in 2021' when it stormed to both Formula 1 titles the following season.

While McLaren has long halted the development of its 2025 car and put all focus on the new regulations for 2026, Red Bull continues to introduce upgrades. Following the new floor in Monza and a revised front wing in Singapore, the team arrived in Mexico with yet another modified floor. The package also included tweaks to the bodywork to improve cooling - always a delicate issue in the thin air at Mexico City’s high altitude.

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The floor changes were officially listed a “floor upgrade” in the FIA document, but Marko cautioned against overstating it: “The upgrade mainly targeted cooling efficiency - because of the thinner air here.”

When noted that the floor itself has been updated from the Monza version as well, Marko continued: “Yes, but that’s all related - that's part of the same package with the cooling adjustments.”

The Austrian confirmed that only Max Verstappen received the new components for the F1 weekend in Mexico, with team-mate Yuki Tsunoda running a slightly older specification.

Some competitors have expressed surprise that Red Bull continues to update its 2025 car at this stage of the season. McLaren boss Andrea Stella remarked that such an approach would heavily impact McLaren’s 2026 project if they attempted the same.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: James Sutton / LAT Images via Getty Images

“Perhaps they are happier [at Red Bull] to give up a little bit of 2026, because they might have some other issues for 2026 whereby they say, let's focus on 2025,” Stella suggested.

Marko laughed off the idea that Red Bull may be over-developing this year’s car and pay a price for it next year.

“It was the same story in 2021,” he recalled. “Toto was really worried that we wouldn't be competitive in 2022.”

At that time, F1 was also on the verge of a regulation change - yet Red Bull continued to develop its 2021 car deep into the season, and still managed to win both world titles in 2022. A crucial difference is that Red Bull didn’t change engine supplier back then, as will be the case next season with its in-house engine project.

According to Marko, the approach of developing the car as long as possible is part of Red Bull’s DNA.

“It's part of our philosophy that we, whenever the rules change, are working as long as we can to stay competitive. That was the same for the last three changes when new regulations came. So if they don't have anything else to worry about, then okay,” he laughed.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

Marko also rejected McLaren's suggestion that Red Bull might be willing to sacrifice its 2026 project for a shot at the drivers' title this year. “We know what we’re doing,” he said.

It relates to the rationale behind Red Bull’s extended development. Team principal Laurent Mekies recently explained that Red Bull wanted to validate its tools and methodologies before fully committing to 2026. Extracting more performance from the RB21, he said, was the best way to confirm those processes and avoiding going blindly into the winter.

McLaren, by contrast, hit a plateau with the MCL39 as Stella explained, making it logical to shift all resources to the new rules.

Regardless of these philosophies, the overhaul in regulations presents every F1 team with a difficult balancing act. Resources and personnel must be split between both projects - a choice made even trickier by the budget cap and ATR system (with limited wind tunnel time and CFD simulations).

Marko acknowledged the challenge but said Red Bull is well-prepared: “It needs an exact plan and very disciplined people, which we have. So we don't think there is a handicap for 2026.”