Red Bull ran its rotating “Macarena” rear wing in first practice at the Miami Grand Prix, sparking debate over whether the device copied Ferrari’s concept. The team publicly denied any copying. Ferrari first showed a rotating rear wing in Bahrain pre-season testing, briefly used it in China and tested updated versions at Monza before bringing a new iteration to Miami. Ferrari team principal Laurent Mekies said Red Bull had developed the idea well before putting it on track and had delayed use while addressing larger performance problems.

Red Bull said it developed and submitted its rotating-wing concept to the FIA in 2025, and tested it at Silverstone and during a filming day, maintaining the design was independently developed. Technically the two solutions differed, with Red Bull’s wing rotating about 160 degrees in the opposite direction to Ferrari’s up-to-270-degree concept and using revised attachments and a modified centerline profile to increase travel, generate lift and reduce drag. Red Bull’s variant featured a noticeably larger actuator and greater travel, which observers said increased the magnitude of the flap movement. Sky Sports’ Ted Kravitz described the device as cutting drag and said it “allows one heck of amount of travel,” and Jenson Button judged Red Bull’s implementation to be considerably faster than Ferrari’s. Red Bull ran the flap in FP1 to assess on-track behavior and aerodynamic benefit ahead of further sessions and potential race deployment.

The rotating rear wing formed the centerpiece of a seven-part upgrade package for the RB22 that also included front-wing tweaks, revised corner inlets, more aggressively dropped sidepods with a prominent waterslide, an updated engine cover, a new floor and a small “mini” wing on the exhaust inspired by Ferrari developments. The upgrades targeted longstanding balance issues and were expected to roughly halve the car’s initial ~12 kg weight excess, with Red Bull aiming to reach the 768 kg minimum weight by the European rounds, likely Austria or Britain. Early signals from the upgrades were positive in running, and Mekies cautioned fans not to expect miracles after a difficult start to the season.