Red Bull May Abandon 'Upside Down' Wing for Spa After Verstappen Crashes

Red Bull may abandon its controversial 'upside down' rear wing before Spa after Max Verstappen crashed out of back-to-back races when the component failed to close properly. Laurent Mekies acknowledged the team had let down its driver and confirmed every option, including reverting to a conventional wing, remains under consideration.

Why it matters:

Back-to-back failures in Austria and Silverstone have turned the aggressive 'Macarena' concept from a competitive gamble into a genuine safety concern. Verstappen is fed up with the danger, and Red Bull cannot afford further mechanical DNFs in high-speed corners with the championship battle intensifying.

The details:

• Verstappen crashed in qualifying at the Red Bull Ring and again at Copse during the British Grand Prix when the wing malfunctioned, though the team maintains the root causes differed.
• Mekies refused to discuss technical specifics but admitted Red Bull would review the "full area" to eliminate any chance of recurrence.
• The squad has run the concept since Miami and must now determine whether the issue stems from the design itself or isolated component failures.
• Ferrari also runs an upside-down wing, while McLaren has developed a version but has not yet raced it, meaning the concept remains attractive if reliability can be solved.

What's next:

With only until July 17 to lock in a solution before Spa's punishing high-speed layout, Mekies insisted Red Bull will do "whatever is necessary to be on the safe side." That leaves the door open for a return to a traditional rear wing if the investigation cannot guarantee absolute reliability under extreme loads.