(Motorsport-Total.com) – Red Bull has decided what will happen to the rotating rear wing at the Belgian Grand Prix (here all sessions in the live ticker!), which caused problems both in the Austrian qualifying and in the race at Silverstone and each time caused a crash for Max Verstappen.
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The so-called “Macarena” wing will not be used on the Belgian Ardennes roller coaster! “We will return to the old version and see when the latest one is ready to be used again,” Verstappen confirmed on Thursday. Red Bull had already hinted earlier that the rotating rear wing might be missing on the RB22.
The Dutchman had shown visible dissatisfaction after the incidents and described the overall situation after his renewed accident in Great Britain as “super dangerous.” The FIA, the world governing body for motorsport, also announced that it would take a closer look at the current variants of the rotating rear wings.
Red Bull now less competitive in Belgium?
What the decision means for Red Bull’s performance remains to be seen. “Visually, it is of course a big change, but in the car, the difference is less than you might think,” admits Isack Hadjar. “Even for us, the loss of performance is hard to quantify.”
“We assume that we are similarly competitive as, for example, last weekend, although the rear wing is definitely less impressive,” Verstappen’s teammate probably mainly refers to the large opening when it is deployed. “We are making sure that we can use the old one again as quickly and safely as possible.”
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Besides Red Bull, Ferrari is currently also using a “Macarena” wing, but this solution is not causing any problems. McLaren is also developing a corresponding rear wing, which was supposed to be tested in Spielberg but ultimately was not used. For the race in Belgium, the traditional racing team does have a new rear wing on the MCL40, but it is not the rotating variant.
Developments continue in both Woking and Milton Keynes nonetheless. According to information from Motorsport.com, a sister platform of Motorsport-Total.com in the Motorsport Network, Red Bull is still determined to use the rotating rear wing again as soon as possible. The team is working on several changes.
Whether Red Bull has already found a suitable solution for the upcoming weekend, when the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest (here the complete schedule) is on the program, is currently unclear. However, it is likely that the rotating rear wing will only be used again by Red Bull after the summer break.
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