Racing
© Spencer
Red Bull is heading to the Miami Grand Prix with a major RB22 upgrade package after a poor start to 2026 left the team sixth in the constructors’ standings, with the effort centered on shedding a reported 9 to 10 kilograms of excess weight and giving the car a more stable balance.
That drop has been sharp. After three races, Max Verstappen has only 12 points and sits ninth in the drivers’ standings, while Isack Hadjar has four points and is 12th. Red Bull is also behind both Haas and Alpine in the constructors’ championship, an early-season position that has turned Miami into an important chance to stop the slide.
The timing matters because Red Bull had more preparation time than expected. The cancellations of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix due to unrest in the Middle East created a five-week break in April, giving the team extra development time to put together what has been described as a substantial upgrade package for Miami.
The main target is weight. RacingNews365 reported that the RB22 is around 9 to 10 kilograms above the minimum weight, with Miami expected to bring lighter versions of parts that appear unchanged from the outside. That is a significant number in performance terms. F1-Insider previously reported that a 10-kilogram excess in Melbourne was worth nearly three tenths of a second per lap.
For Red Bull, the gain is not only raw mass reduction. A lighter car should also help energy management, improving both recovery and deployment while raising overall efficiency. In a season shaped by major regulation changes and Red Bull’s first in-house power unit, that could have a wider effect on how much performance the RB22 can consistently access.
The other part of the Miami package is expected to focus on aerodynamics and the interaction between downforce and vehicle dynamics. Red Bull is not thought to have enough time for major architectural changes, so the emphasis is on refining the car rather than redesigning it. The RB22 has been described as needing a more stable aerodynamic platform, better downforce distribution and more consistent setup behavior after sudden balance shifts in corners undermined driver confidence in the opening races.
If those issues are reduced, the effect could spread through the whole car. In Formula 1, balance problems rarely sit in isolation, and a more predictable platform would give Verstappen and Hadjar more confidence to push harder and extract more from the package.
There are already signs Red Bull has been trialing possible solutions. Spy shots from a closed filming day reportedly showed modified winglets, a revised sidepod profile and Red Bull’s own version of the “Macarena” rear wing concept. What those parts deliver in race conditions remains unclear.
That uncertainty is the key point heading into Miami, because Red Bull will not be the only team arriving with upgrades. The five-week gap gave the team a chance to respond, but Miami will show whether that response is enough to change the order and pull Red Bull back into the fight.