Tost: The Imola upgrade is Red Bull's final opportunity.

      "It must be done correctly."

      Red Bull consultant Franz Tost cautions that the world championship will essentially be "over" if the team's upgrades for Imola do not yield significant improvement. Amid speculations about departing Alpine chief Oliver Oakes potentially moving to Red Bull, Christian Horner downplayed the importance of the frequently discussed Imola upgrade by Dr. Helmut Marko. "There is no significant update for Imola," Horner stated in Miami. "I’m not sure where that information originated."

      However, Tost, a former long-time team principal of Toro Rosso and Alpha Tauri (now Racing Bulls) who is now retired but remains a part-time consultant for Red Bull, believes the Imola upgrades are crucial. "It has to be right," the Austrian said to Sport1, "and that goes for Ferrari and Mercedes as well. Otherwise, this world championship is finished and McLaren will continue to dominate for the remainder of the season. Even an exceptional driver like Max Verstappen will find it difficult to make an impact."

      Nonetheless, Horner believes that the date to watch is Barcelona, as it is there that McLaren’s advantage due to flexible wings should diminish. "It will be a shift," he noted. "How the stiffening of the front wings will affect the different cars? It’s uncertain how that will unfold."

      The dire news for Red Bull in Miami, however, is that even with a completely new floor design implemented on Max Verstappen’s car, the lap time discrepancy to the McLarens during the race was a remarkable seven tenths per lap. "Our tires are still overheating," the four-time world champion remarked when asked about the new floor. "The car still doesn’t make it easy for me. The balance is simply off."

      Team advisor Dr. Helmut Marko admitted disappointment regarding the Miami floor. "We had higher expectations," he acknowledged. "But it simply fell short." Marko noted that Lando Norris’ performance in the race "revealed the actual pace of the McLarens." "They were consistently seven tenths to one second faster per lap. That’s quite disheartening," the 82-year-old expressed.