Red Bull drops 'Macarena' rear wing in Belgium after two Verstappen crashes

Red Bull has abandoned its rotating ‘Macarena’ rear wing for the Belgian Grand Prix, reverting to the conventional design it started the 2026 season with after two alarming incidents involving Max Verstappen. The world champion crashed in Austrian Grand Prix qualifying when the wing failed to close properly, then spun into the gravel at Stowe during the British Grand Prix in a near-identical sequence of events.

“We’ll go back on the old one and see when the latest one is ready again to be used,” Verstappen confirmed on Thursday, describing the underlying problem as “dangerous”.

The rotating rear wing concept — nicknamed the ‘Macarena’ — was pioneered by Ferrari in winter testing. Its main flap rotates 180 degrees when straight-line mode is activated, optimising drag on the straights. Red Bull introduced its own version of the mechanism at May’s Miami Grand Prix, though with a different technical solution to Ferrari’s design.

Despite the setback, Red Bull is understood to remain committed to the concept and is working on a series of modifications at its Milton Keynes factory to address the reliability and safety issues before reintroducing the wing.

The high-profile incidents have drawn the attention of the FIA, which is now taking a closer look at the rear wing designs of both Red Bull and Ferrari. Ferrari, however, is understood to be relaxed about its own version, which has operated without issue and has undergone an extended period of testing and development.

McLaren is the third team known to have explored an upside-down rear wing design, but the Woking outfit shelved its plans after initially intending to test the concept in Austrian Grand Prix free practice, concluding it required further development work before being race-ready.