Red Bull Reverts to Standard Wing After Verstappen Faults
NXTbets Pro | Published On: July 16, 2026
Red Bull wing switch
Red Bull returned to a conventional rear wing for the Belgian Grand Prix after a string of rear-wing problems with Max Verstappen in Britain and Austria. The change put the team back on a standard setup that opens for straight-line mode in the usual way, a clear move away from the more aggressive design Red Bull and Ferrari introduced this year. That design uses a top flap that rotates more than 180 degrees to cut drag and boost straight-line speed. Photos from Spa showed the revised Red Bull wing on Verstappen’s car and on Isack Hadjar’s car, giving the team a fresh look at a circuit where speed on the straights matters. The switch came after Red Bull spent time testing the previous wing since Silverstone and found a problem with it. Laurent Mekies said the team identified an issue in those tests and responded by going back to a safer, more familiar package. Red Bull did not frame the change as a minor tweak. It treated the wing as a central piece of the weekend setup and moved quickly to replace it before the cars took the track at Spa.
Verstappen faults
The failures around Verstappen’s rear wing brought the issue into sharp focus. He described the repeated faults as “super dangerous” and said he was lucky not to be hurt. That reaction matched the seriousness of what Red Bull saw on track and in its own testing. Mekies said the exact cause was not spelled out beyond an apparent aerodynamic disruption when the wing reverted to cornering mode. That detail points to a problem in the transition between straight-line speed and cornering performance, the kind of change that can unsettle a car at the wrong moment. The facts provided do not offer a full mechanical explanation, but they do show enough to explain why Red Bull acted fast. The team had already seen incidents in Britain and Austria, then found a problem in tests that followed Silverstone. Once those pieces lined up, the move back to a standard rear wing made sense on safety and performance grounds. Mekies said Red Bull would do what was necessary to stop a repeat of the failures, a firm statement that underlined how seriously the team viewed the matter. The priority was to remove the fault before it became a bigger risk for Verstappen or anyone else using the same package.
FIA safety talks
The rear-wing issue reached beyond Red Bull’s garage. The FIA has spoken with Red Bull and Ferrari about the designs on safety grounds, which puts the matter under direct regulatory attention. That step matters because the wing concept was not unique to one team. Red Bull and Ferrari both introduced the design this year, and the governing body has already taken notice of the way it works at high speed. The concern centers on a system that changes shape dramatically between straight-line running and cornering. If that switch does not happen cleanly, the car can lose the stability the driver expects. Red Bull’s response at Spa showed how quickly teams can react when that balance looks wrong. The revised wing appeared on Verstappen’s car and Hadjar’s car, and the team went back to the more conventional arrangement for the weekend. Mekies made clear that Red Bull would keep adjusting until the problem was gone. That leaves the focus on prevention, not explanation alone. The team found a fault, moved away from the troubled setup and put a standard wing back on the car in time for the Belgian Grand Prix. The facts point to a simple conclusion. Red Bull saw enough danger in the prior design to change course, and the FIA is now part of the conversation as the teams work through the safety questions tied to the rear-wing concept.
