"Knowing Wache the tires will catch fire in Imola then": Fans react to reports of Red Bull bringing a McLaren-inspired upgrade

F1 fans were left reeling after it was reported that Red Bull was planning to bring a McLaren-inspired upgrade package to Imola next month. It has been a difficult start to the 2025 season for the Austrian team as they have struggled to consistently match the pace shown by the world champions in the first four races and one sprint thus far.

The team won the Japanese Grand Prix earlier in the month, with Max Verstappen taking a fourth consecutive race win at Suzuka International Circuit. However, the victory was more down to the brilliance of the four-time F1 world champion and the perfect conditions.

The RB21 has had a narrow window to operate and struggles with balance issues in the mid-corner turn-ins and rear instability. As reported by Auto Racer, Red Bull will bring an upgrade package to resolve its brake cooling issues in the first race of the European leg in Imola. The upgrade would target the rear brake cooling and will have a similar solution to McLaren.

F1 fans reacted to Red Bull's McLaren-inspired upgrade package on X, with one cheekily claiming:

"Knowing Wache the tires will catch fire in Imola then."

"Are they putting water in the tires too?"

"Wache gonna duct tape ice cubes to the outside of the tires," said a fan.

Here are some more reactions:

"Let's pressurize our tires with some other gases instead of compressed air (like McKaren) - which become liquid under pressure but gaseous at room temperature," suggested a fan.

"Times changing lol Redbull need inspiration from McLaren, that’s wild," claimed another.

"Knowing Red Bull, it’ll probably overheat the tires more," wrote another.

The former world champions had struggled massively with overheating of the tires during the Bahrain GP last weekend.

Red Bull team boss gives his take on RB21's issues in 2025

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner stated that the team was aware of the issues plaguing the RB21 in the 2025 season and was working on "implementing" the solutions.

Speaking with Sky Sports last weekend, Horner said:

"I think it's clear we understand what the problem is. It's implementing the solution. So it's the entry phase to the mid-corner that he [Verstappen] is addressing and giving him the ability and grip, and confidence that it takes to carry speed into the entry of the corners.

"Now that's fundamentally an aero issue that we need to be able to give him that grip. We need to just unpick it, and you get a big balance shift. How these cars are working with the back or front wings, and so on. It's unpicking all of that and basically calming the car down."

Red Bull is 22 points behind Mercedes in the Constructors Championship and a further 80 points behind McLaren, who are sitting top of the standings with 151 points.