Red Bull would be ‘admitting defeat’ if they don’t make key change for US Grand Prix

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Red Bull will be heading to Austin with hopes they can turn around their fortunes this season as they look to retake the lead in the Constructors’ Championship away from McLaren.

The Milton Keynes squad was in trouble when they appeared to be the fourth-quickest car at the Italian Grand Prix and spent the next two races gathering data to understand where they were losing speed in the RB20.

McLaren overtook Red Bull in the constructors’ standings at the Azerbaijan GP and now leads them by 41 points heading into the final six races of the season.

Red Bull is planning to bring an upgrade to their car at the US GP which they hope can put them back on track, having used the races in Baku and Singapore to gather data between Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen.

Perez’s crash at the end of the race in Baku potentially caused a setback for the team, meaning we could see them turn up to Austin without a clear solution.

Discussing the possibility on The Race podcast, journalist Ben Anderson believes this could mean Red Bull is effectively ‘giving up’ in the development war with McLaren.

Red Bull is effectively ‘giving up’ on car development if Austin upgrades do not work

Red Bull has been clear that much of their car development this year has been impacted by their ageing facilities at their Milton Keynes factory, including a wind tunnel that was built just after WW2.

Technical director Pierre Wache also identified three other reasons why, tracing back to a combination of factors that have influenced the correlation between factory and the track.

If they fail to turn up to Austin with any meaningful upgrades, it could mean bad news for their Constructors’ title defence.

“Although they’ve had these calibration problems that Horner has addressed, if you’ve had a month to work on all this stuff and analyse your data, and figure out what you’re going to do, parts have already been produced anyway,” said Anderson.

“To have had all that time and to come to Austin with nothing and just say ‘Oh no we’re going to park it’ suggests you don’t have confidence in what you’re doing, are not sure of methodologies, and it’s not exactly admitting defeat but it is in the development war.”

Ferrari could leapfrog Red Bull in the Constructors’ battle

Ferrari stands a good chance of leapfrogging Red Bull in the battle for the Constructors’ Championship, with them now just 34 points behind in third.

Luckily for Red Bull, the team has brought the last of their major upgrades of the season to the track already at the home race in Monza.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links

While the early verdict showed that Ferrari had found some pace with their changes, with Charles Leclerc taking an unlikely victory, they are still trying to understand their updates.

Carlos Sainz believes their next chance to win will be Las Vegas, but if they consistently outscore Red Bull in the meantime, it could see the battle for second go down to the wire.