McLaren's party might be over way sooner than anyone expected. With six rounds left to play, Red Bull Racing has absolutely closed the gap in the constructors' championship, sitting just seven points behind on 332 points to McLaren's 339. It's a stunning turnaround that's got the papaya team looking seriously nervous about finishing outside the podium positions for the first time in two seasons.

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Max Verstappen has been the catalyst for this Red Bull resurgence, notching back-to-back wins in Malaysia and Singapore. Those victories came on the back of a major upgrade package Red Bull introduced in Baku that completely reworked the RB22's sidepods, floor, and cooling system. The tweaks appear to have sorted out the drivability issues that had been grinding Verstappen down all season long. Meanwhile, McLaren have hit a wall. Since their Hungary upgrade, the MCL40 just hasn't had the pace needed at the flyaway events, with corner-entry handling proving to be a persistent problem. Things got worse in Baku when Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both failed to score, handing Red Bull a massive points swing.

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McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has promised a phased upgrade rollout over the final rounds to try and stop this slide, but time's running short. Ferrari, sitting comfortably on 444 points over 100 ahead of both McLaren and Red Bull, look completely out of this particular fight. The Scuderia will introduce their own final aerodynamic update in Austin with a redesigned floor and new bodywork on the SF-26, but they're so far clear of third place that it barely matters.

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So now it comes down to this: McLaren's upgrade schedule versus Red Bull's current momentum. With six races remaining, third place has become the genuine battleground between these two teams. If those updates work like Andrea Stella hopes, McLaren could push back. But if they don't arrive in time or miss the mark, Red Bull could absolutely steal that final championship spot.

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