Red Bull has introduced a "much bigger" upgrade for the Hungarian GP than any previous improvements made to their 2024 car.
Team advisor Dr. Helmut Marko emphasized that the new components, both visibly conspicuous and more subtle, "must now have an effect," acknowledging that the team is currently not the fastest on the circuits.
"We want to see improvements on the stopwatch and not just in theory in the wind tunnel," he conveyed to Kleine Zeitung newspaper. "It's about our car finding its balance more quickly."
Max Verstappen, the championship leader, has been vocal about the car's waning performance against competitors like McLaren and Mercedes in recent weeks.
The Dutch racer revealed that the new package at the Hungaroring is the team's fifth update in 2024.
"It's much bigger than the other four," stated the three-time world champion.
"We hope it will help us to eliminate all the problems that have been slowing us down recently. It is extremely important for us that it has an effect and brings us back to where we came from," Verstappen further elaborated. If not, that would be a concern."
Verstappen, 26, also sought to alleviate the mounting pressure on his teammate Sergio Perez, asserting that "it's not fair to say it's all his fault."
"It was difficult for me as well to get everything out of the car last weekend and the team knows that too," he noted. "We need to find a better working window."
Despite the potential of the Hungary upgrades, Verstappen remains cautious about expectations.
"The question is not how close McLaren and Mercedes will be to us," he commented. "You have to turn it around and ask 'How close can we be?'
"We didn't have the fastest car in the last two races and I don't expect that to suddenly change now. It's an important weekend for us, because I don't know how the rest of the season will turn out if we don't gain time here. And of course, I don't know what the other teams will bring here either," Verstappen concluded.
