– Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar had to do without the so-called “Macarena” rear wing on the RB22 at the Belgian Grand Prix: The rotating wing had caused the Dutchman to go off track in both Austria and Silverstone and was therefore withdrawn from circulation for safety reasons.
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However, the rear wing is expected to make its comeback at the Hungarian Grand Prix next weekend (all sessions in the live ticker!). “We will have a solution for Budapest,” confirms Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies.
Technical director Pierre Wache had already explained in Belgium that “a mechanical problem” was behind Verstappen’s offs. However, in both cases, these were two independent defects, and therefore not a repeat of the Spielberg problem in Silverstone.
“It was a mechanical problem, and they were two different things,” adds team principal Mekies. “So two different mechanical defects.” The affected components of the mechanism have since been reinforced to prevent similar problems in the future.
Does Verstappen even want to switch back?
However, it remains unclear whether Verstappen even wants to return to the “Macarena” wing. The Dutchman finished third on the podium at the Belgian Grand Prix despite using the classic rear wing. “It worked well,” says the Red Bull driver with a slight grin.
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“I kept the car on track – that’s the most important thing for now. We were just a bit more competitive, and the balance was a bit better.” That doesn’t sound like the “Macarena” rear wing would make a decisive difference.
“But on the hard tires, we struggled more, it’s as simple as that,” Verstappen adds, already looking ahead to the coming weekend: “Honestly, it’s nice, of course, to suffer less from the performance deficit in Hungary, but I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”
“Because ultimately there are a lot of corners there and you need a car with good cornering performance; so it’s impossible to say how well we will perform. I just hope for a trouble-free weekend. That will help a lot in assessing whether we are competitive or not.”
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