Red Bull abandons 'Macarena' rear wing for Belgian GP after two Verstappen crashes

Red Bull will race with its original conventional rear wing at the Belgian Grand Prix after abandoning its rotating ‘Macarena’ concept following two alarming high-speed incidents for Max Verstappen at the Austrian and British Grands Prix.

Verstappen crashed heavily in Austrian Grand Prix qualifying after the wing failed to close properly, and suffered a second scare at Stowe during the British Grand Prix, spinning into the gravel. The Dutchman described the problem as “dangerous”, and on Thursday confirmed the team’s decision to step back. “We’ll go back on the old one and see when the latest one is ready again to be used,” he said.

The so-called ‘Macarena’ wing features a main flap that rotates 180 degrees when straight-line mode is activated, reducing drag on the straights. Ferrari pioneered the concept in winter testing, while Red Bull introduced its own version — with a different mechanism — at May’s Miami Grand Prix. McLaren also worked on a similar design but shelved it before planned testing in Austrian Grand Prix free practice, concluding the concept needed further development.

Red Bull remains committed to the rotating wing and is working on a series of modifications at its Milton Keynes factory to address the reliability and safety issues before reintroducing it. The high-profile failures have drawn the attention of the FIA, which is now taking a closer look at both Red Bull’s and Ferrari’s rear wing designs.

Ferrari, however, is understood to be unconcerned about its own version of the wing. Unlike Red Bull’s design, the Scuderia’s solution has operated without incident and has been developed over a significantly longer period, giving the team confidence that no changes are required on their side.