Andrea Stella believes the new sidepod concept introduced by Red Bull Racing has become one of the most significant technical talking points of the 2026 Formula 1 season after the Milton Keynes squad arrived at the Miami Grand Prix with a major upgrade package. The update included not only a Ferrari-inspired “Macarena” rear wing interpretation, but also substantial changes around the RB22 sidepod area used by Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar.
Stella’s attention focused primarily on the revised sidepod geometry, which he described as fundamentally different from the concepts currently adopted by rival teams. McLaren F1 Team, Mercedes, and Ferrari continue to pursue distinct aerodynamic philosophies despite the ground-effect regulations entering a mature phase.
“For those who are technically interested, we are in a very, very interesting phase,” Stella told media including RacingNews365.
According to Stella, the Red Bull solution demonstrates that teams are still discovering fresh development directions even after several seasons under the current aerodynamic framework. He suggested Red Bull had intelligently exploited regulatory freedoms to introduce an aggressive sidepod geometry that differs from competing concepts. The design could potentially influence airflow stability toward the diffuser while also improving cooling efficiency without sacrificing core downforce performance.
“It is very interesting because if you see the sidepod concept that Red Bull introduced, it is quite different to the sidepod concept that, for instance, Mercedes and Ferrari have adopted, and the McLaren style is further different,” Stella explained.
The extensive Miami upgrade packages across the grid highlighted how open the 2026 development race remains. Unlike the latter stages of the 2025 regulations, when most cars began converging toward similar aerodynamic solutions, Stella believes Formula 1 remains far from a unified design direction. That creates the possibility for significant performance swings throughout the season, particularly in the constructors’ battle involving McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes.
From a performance perspective, Red Bull appears focused on addressing aerodynamic balance weaknesses that emerged during several early-season rounds. McLaren remains a benchmark in tyre management and race pace consistency, but Stella acknowledged that teams are now aggressively analysing rival concepts for potential gains. Red Bull’s sidepod architecture is expected to become a major point of study throughout the European phase of the championship.
“There will be a process of looking at each other, testing things and certainly each team will be testing, taking a look at the Red Bull concept to see the advantages,” Stella added.
The increasingly diverse technical battle could define the direction of car development during the first half of the 2026 campaign. With Formula 1 preparing to enter the demanding European section of the calendar, the effectiveness of Red Bull’s Miami upgrades and McLaren’s response may become a decisive factor in the next phase of the world championship fight.
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