FIA clears F1’s ‘Macarena wing’ concept after safety review

FIA clears rotating rear wing concept

The FIA has confirmed that Formula 1’s rotating rear wing concept, quickly nicknamed the “Macarena wing” by Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur, will remain legal after an extensive safety review.

Red Bull was unable to make its system fully operational for the start of the season, eventually introducing it at the Miami weekend. Both Ferrari and Red Bull initially ran their respective designs without difficulty, but the concept attracted greater attention after Max Verstappen suffered consecutive crashes in Spielberg and Silverstone.

The FIA then requested additional information from both teams. The request was not aimed specifically at Ferrari; the governing body wanted to treat the two teams equally because they were the only outfits racing the technology at that stage. It also needed a clearer understanding of the systems as more teams began developing their own versions. McLaren has tested a rotating rear wing and plans to race it at one of the first weekends after the summer break.

Safety, not legality, was the central question

Nikolas Tombazis, the FIA’s single-seater director, said the governing body’s priority was to establish that the designs were safe. The review covered more than the prescribed closing time, examining what happened immediately afterwards because the airflow does not instantly reattach when the wing closes.

“Mainly, we wanted to be sure that there was never a risk of, let’s say, a hydraulic failure, meaning that the wing is staying open and could not come back to a closed position,” Tombazis said. The FIA also wanted to ensure that the wing moved quickly rather than slowly, which could unsettle the car.

The FIA now considers the overall concept acceptable, although Red Bull carried out additional work after discussions with the governing body. Tombazis said the team was not formally barred from racing the wing, but its technical group recognised that more work was needed, with the crashes also forming part of the wider context.

That work addressed mechanical issues identified by Wache. Red Bull therefore reverted temporarily to a conventional specification in Belgium before Verstappen and Isack Hadjar used the rotating wing again in Hungary. The decision leaves the door open for wider adoption of the concept as Formula 1’s teams continue to pursue performance gains, a development reflected in Red Bull’s difficult 2026 half-season.