Red Bull confirms fix for Macarena rear wing ahead of Hungarian GP

Red Bull to restore revised rear-wing design in Budapest

Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies has confirmed that the team will introduce a fix for its Macarena rear wing at the Hungarian Grand Prix, after removing the design for the Belgian round.

The rear wing became a clear reliability concern following separate incidents involving Max Verstappen. He crashed during qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix, then spun from third place at the British Grand Prix after the airflow around the rear wing failed to reattach quickly enough when the flap closed.

Although the failures were mechanically related, Mekies indicated after Silverstone that they were different problems. Red Bull subsequently chose not to run the Macarena design at Spa while solutions were developed at Milton Keynes. The team instead returned to its older-specification rear wing, featuring a DRS-style flap opening.

Mekies confirms separate mechanical issues

Speaking after the Belgian Grand Prix, Mekies made clear that the team’s response had addressed the nature of the failures rather than treating them as one single fault.

“It was mechanical, and it was two different things,” Mekies explained. “So two different mechanical issues. We will have a fix for Budapest.”

The confirmation gives Red Bull a defined next step after Verstappen secured third place at Spa with the older design. It also underlines the importance of resolving both mechanical issues before the team returns to the newer concept.

Red Bull’s Belgian weekend had already been closely watched because of its rear-wing decision. Verstappen had described the package as positive but remained wary of the team’s deficit, making the Spa result a useful reference point for the comparison between the two specifications.

Verstappen prefers the stability of the old wing

Verstappen’s assessment of the older rear wing was measured but clear. The immediate priority, he said, was keeping the car under control throughout the race.

“It performed well. I kept [the car] on the road, which I think is the first thing,” Verstappen said. “We were just a little bit more competitive, and the balance was a little bit better, but we struggled more on the hard tyre, as simple as that.”

His comments point to a trade-off between the two designs. The older wing delivered a more manageable car and a slightly improved balance, but it also brought a greater struggle on the hard tyre. Red Bull will now arrive in Budapest with the task of retaining that stability while addressing the faults that forced the Macarena design out of the Belgian Grand Prix.