Few technical developments in Hungary, Red Bull among the few to innovate
A quiet weekend for technical innovations in Budapest. For this fourteenth round of the season, only Red Bull, Aston Martin and Racing Bulls made any changes to their single-seaters. Most of the teams had already concentrated their efforts on Spa, a week earlier.
Only three teams have made technical changes at the Hungaroring for the fourteenth round of the 2025 championship. Red Bull, Racing Bulls, and Aston Martin make up this shortlist before the summer break, with targeted developments focused on the specifics of the Hungarian circuit.
Red Bull adapts its package to the track
At Red Bull, two areas have been modified: the front wing and the area around the brakes. The Austrian team is introducing a longer chord flap element on the second element of the front wing, allowing for increased aerodynamic load at the front. This modification is consistent with the more loaded rear wing planned for the Hungaroring.
« Given the expected rear wing level for the Hungaroring circuit, a second front wing flap element with a longer chord has been produced, adding load to the wing », explains Red Bull in its technical documentation. The Hungarian circuit, mainly composed of slow and technical turns, indeed requires a high level of downforce to fully exploit performance.
On the cooling side, the team has revised the front brake ducts with an enlarged air intake and a redesigned exit. This evolution meets reliability requirements by offering more intake and exit areas to the wheel bodywork. The goal is to improve air circulation around the wheels to optimize brake cooling, which is particularly stressed on this tight track and under temperatures that can be high at this time of year.
Aston Martin continues to develop its front wing
Aston Martin continues the development of its front wing introduced in Belgium. The British team is taking a targeted approach with a modification that aligns with its Belgian developments. The new flap, described as “more aggressive,” complements the front wing deployed at the previous event.
« The more aggressive design increases the total amount of load that the wing can generate to be used with the high-load rear wing that will be used at this event », explains Aston Martin. This change aims to adjust the aerodynamic balance of the car, allowing the team to fully exploit its high-load rear wing package.
This type of adjustment, common on tracks like Budapest, aims to optimize the distribution of aerodynamic downforce to better meet the demands of sequences of turns.
Racing Bulls reviews its brakes and cooling system
Racing Bulls is the third team to have developed its car this weekend, with two specific modifications tailored to the challenges of the Hungaroring. The surfaces of the front corner undergo an update with the shape of the front brake drum components modified to improve the flow conditioning of the air passing towards the rear of the car. This development may have an impact on stability and overall aerodynamic performance.
Cooling is the second area of improvement. Red Bull’s sister team has chosen to increase the size of the side louver panels to meet the high engine cooling demands that Budapest can impose. The louver panels used on circuits with high engine cooling demands have been enlarged to increase engine cooling, Racing Bulls states.
This approach proves all the more relevant as the high temperatures and low average speeds at the Hungaroring naturally reduce air circulation. The lower speeds expected throughout the lap decrease the mass airflow through the car to keep critical components cool. By enlarging the openings, Racing Bulls aims to ensure sufficient engine cooling throughout the weekend.
Targeted choices before the summer break
The small number of new features in Budapest is largely explained by the calendar. Positioned just before the summer break, the Hungarian round follows a Belgian Grand Prix held in a Sprint format, where several teams have already introduced new parts designed to be used over two consecutive weekends.
The remaining seven teams – McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari, Alpine, Williams, Sauber, and Haas – have retained the previous versions of their cars. With some teams already starting to look towards 2026 and the future regulations, short-term investments tend to slow down.
Mercedes has, however, reverted to the suspension configuration originally introduced at Imola. The German team had set it aside at Monaco and Barcelona, considering it not suitable for those specific tracks, before reusing it in Canada, where it proved to be more effective.
