Max Verstappen believes the success rate of Red Bull's biggest upgrade package yet in Hungary will be crucial in determining its fortunes for the remainder of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
Red Bull's RB20 started the season as the quickest car in the field, but in recent months McLaren and Mercedes have closed the gap, with their relative performance shifting from weekend to weekend.
Although both Verstappen and Red Bull still enjoy a healthy lead in the standings, the resurgence of their closest rivals means wins don't come as easily as they used to, and team-mate Sergio Perez's struggles have left the door ajar for McLaren to mount a constructors' title challenge.
So far, Red Bull has found it more difficult than some of its chasers to add performance to its car, resulting in Verstappen urging his team to push improvements through the pipeline quicker.
At this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, Red Bull is now introducing its most significant package so far, and Verstappen believes it will define how the second half of 2024 shapes up.
When asked if Red Bull's Budapest specification was crucial for the team's trajectory over the coming months, the Dutchman replied: "You could say that, yes. I think so.
"If this is not giving us some good lap time, then I don't know how the rest of the season is going to evolve.
"But at the same time, I also don't know what's coming from the other teams, right? So we just focus on ourselves.
"We are bringing quite some things to the car. It is a bit bigger than what we have brought already. And of course, I hope that will give us a bit of lap time."
Verstappen doesn't expect the Budapest upgrades to be enough to restore Red Bull's earlier advantage but anticipates that it should bring the squad closer to Mercedes and McLaren instead.
"Over the last few races we have not had the quickest car," said the reigning world champion.
"So, I don't expect that to suddenly be any different. Hopefully, the upgrades will give us a good boost, but at the moment I just want to see how that will all work this weekend."
Verstappen was previously critical of Red Bull's modest development curve this season, compelling the squad not to accept other teams catching up as normal under the current stable regulations.
While he conceded there is a shorter runway for Red Bull to keep finding gains under the cost cap and the aerodynamic testing restrictions it faces as F1's leading force, Verstappen said he doesn't want the team to make excuses.
"If you look at it realistically other teams have made bigger steps, that's very clear," he explained.
"I know that my team is pushing as hard as they can to find performance. These cars are just very complicated and some bits might be also just in the set-up itself.
"At the same time, we need to find more performance. As the leading team you have less time, also in the wind tunnel [but] I'm not using that as an excuse, because I don't want to think like that.
"But the reality is that we have less time and we try to do the best we can."
