Red Bull plans to revive 'Macarena' wing at Hungary after fixing Silverstone fault
Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache says the team's rotating rear wing — shelved after two Verstappen crashes — will return at the Hungarian Grand Prix once a mechanical fault identified at Silverstone is proven fixed.
Red Bull intends to bring back its rotating rear wing at the Hungarian Grand Prix after technical director Pierre Wache confirmed engineers have identified and resolved the mechanical fault that contributed to Max Verstappen’s recent crashes.
The device, nicknamed the ‘Macarena’ wing, was first introduced by Ferrari under Formula 1’s new 2025 regulations before Red Bull adopted it on the RB22 at the Miami Grand Prix. The wing rotates to reduce drag on the straights, offering a straightline speed advantage, but Verstappen labelled it “super dangerous” following incidents in qualifying at the Red Bull Ring and during the race at Silverstone. Red Bull opted to revert to a conventional rear wing for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
“It’s a mechanical problem that we spotted after the accident in Silverstone,” Wache said. “We fix it, we are trying to prove that we are bulletproof before putting it on the car, and it should be ready for Budapest.”
Wache identified the wing’s actuator as part of the issue and confirmed the matter had been discussed with the FIA given its safety implications. “We looked at the wing and we know what happened, we know how to fix it,” he added. “That is just to make sure that it’s ready and bulletproof. We prove it to them, what we’ve done.”
On track at Spa, Verstappen topped Free Practice 1 before finishing third in FP2, nearly half a second behind pacesetter Kimi Antonelli, with McLaren’s Lando Norris splitting the two. Wache acknowledged there is still work to do on the car’s balance heading into qualifying.
“It’s a good starting point, but still, I’m not sure he’s happy with what I heard,” Wache said of Verstappen. “We still have a lot to improve on the balance side, especially on short runs and maybe on the degradation side, for sure.”
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