There was a time when the Hungaroring was called the Monte Carlo without walls, and perhaps there was some truth to it. In Budapest, racing returns to a high-downforce track, providing an incentive to develop new solutions. This is what Ferrari has done, modifying the Macarena wing, equipping it with additional elements to generate even more downforce, taking inspiration from what the competition did in Monaco.
The new Ferrari wing
On Thursday in Budapest, the Prancing Horse’s garages host the two SF-26s in different configurations. Leclerc’s car features a new rear wing, or rather a Macarena enriched with new flaps. Ferrari, in fact, has also taken inspiration from its rivals, who since Monte Carlo have begun to exploit the regulatory volume for the active aerodynamics actuator to mount additional profiles. In particular, the Scuderia replicated McLaren’s solution, creating three long flaps in a central position. The Italian team also imitated Red Bull, adding two triangular extensions to the upper profile, and also widening the central element already normally present.
Overall, the general setup of the Macarena wing remains the same regarding the trend of the main profiles. Furthermore, the presence of the new flaps does not affect the overturning of the movable elements. It is likely that Ferrari will conduct a comparison between the new and old versions during the first session, and then decide what to do. In case of positive feedback, the Prancing Horse will be able to reuse the new wing on subsequent high-downforce tracks, especially Zandvoort and Singapore.
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The Macarena festival
Overall, the Hungarian weekend is already shaping up to be a true festival of inverted rear wings. In addition to Ferrari’s updated wing, Red Bull has announced that it will bring its own version back to the track after making some mechanical corrections. Finally, McLaren could also test its Macarena, although its use in the race is unlikely to materialize before returning from the summer break.
