Red Bull arrives at Spa without the certainty of being able to use one of the tools that would have been most useful on the Belgian track. Energy management promises to be critical on the long straights of the Ardennes, which is why any solution useful to reduce aerodynamic drag becomes even more valuable. Yet, the Milton Keynes team is considering not using its inverted rear wing, as evidenced by the presence of the old specification in the garage.
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Macarena on standby
The first surprise of the Belgian weekend is the presence of the old rear wing in the Red Bull garage, both on Verstappen’s RB22 and on Hadjar’s. This does not mean that the Milton Keynes team has already decided to shelve its version of the Macarena wing, but at least there is the intention to carry out some tests during the free practice sessions. The decision comes after the two consecutive accidents involving Verstappen, first in qualifying in Austria and then during the race in England, both apparently triggered by the imperfect closing of the movable profiles.
The wings present in the Spa garage differ from the latest version in the shape of the movable profiles, but above all in the actuator of the active aerodynamics. The central pylon is in fact without the wavy fairing typical of the RB22 Macarena wing, while the metal linkages are anchored differently, thus not allowing the rotation of the profiles. The difference is evident in the comparison between the early season wing and the one from Miami, the race where Red Bull’s Macarena debuted.
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Drag is the number one enemy
Certainly Red Bull has not taken lightly the decision to question the inverted movable wing precisely for the Spa event. In the competitors’ garages, in fact, less loaded front wings have already appeared, while so far in 2026 the winning approach has always been to seek maximum aerodynamic downforce. All this shows how critical energy management will be at Spa and what cost Red Bull risks paying if the Macarena does not provide sufficient guarantees for its use.
