Max Verstappen looking forward to test Red Bull Racing's latest upgrade at the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix

Following a mediocre Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix where Max Verstappen struggled for a decent balance in his RB22, qualifying fifth and racing to fourth while benefiting from Kimi Antonelli's DNF, the Dutchman is hoping that a new upgrade on his car this weekend at the Red Bull Ring will deliver performance.

"Austria is of course a home Grand Prix for the Team," Verstappen said in Red Bull Racing's Grand Prix review. "It's been a great track for me in the past, and we have had really good memories there.

"It's a very interesting track, and all of the corners are quite different, so it's really important to get a good balance out of the car. You need both high-speed and low-speed performance, good traction, and now, with how energy-sensitive some tracks are, it is important to work to get on top of this.

"We have a new package we are bringing, so it is exciting to see how much this could look to give us in lap time. We are looking forward to see what we can do at the Red Bull Ring," the four-time Formula 1 Champion concluded.

Isack Hadjar had a decent weekend in Barcelona, qualifying close to Verstappen and recovering to sixth after a disastrous start dropped him out of the points positions.

The Frenchman is relishing his first Austrian Grand Prix as a Red Bull Racing driver; he commented: "Austria is a weekend I've been looking forward to for a while. It's our home race, and it'll be the first time that I get to experience an atmosphere like it driving for this Team, so it's definitely an exciting one to head into.

"Barcelona was a good indication of the progress we have made, and even though we had a setback with the start, I managed to extract some good pace from the car and put in a strong recovery drive.

"We're bringing a new package to Austria, and, as with any upgrade, the key objective will be to understand it and maximise its potential throughout the weekend.

"Hopefully it'll take us closer to where we want to be, and we get to experience some good racing in front of our home support," Hadjar concluded.