Red Bull's big upgrade package and its ‘Macarena’ F1 wing explained

Story by

Ronald Vording

Fri, May 1, 2026 at 4:31 PM UTC ·

8 min read

As expected, the Miami Grand Prix is a festival of upgrades. The technical FIA document reveals that 10 of the 11 Formula 1 teams have brought new parts to Florida.

Aston Martin has no upgrades listed and has mainly worked on reliability and weight, although it should be noted that the updates from Audi , Haas and Mercedes are modest in scale. Kimi Antonelli already indicated as much during media day.

Red Bull, however, has come up with a large-scale package for its 2026 challenger, with seven upgrades listed in the FIA’s document.

The background to Red Bull’s own ‘Macarena’ wing

The change that immediately attracted the most attention during the team’s filming day at Silverstone is the new rear wing. As with Ferrari , it concerns a rotating rear wing design for active aerodynamics, which has been dubbed the ‘Macarena wing’ in the paddock.

However, when asked by Motorsport.com, Red Bull said the wing has not been copied from or inspired by Ferrari. In fact, this was a concept that the Milton Keynes-based team had been working on for much longer, and for which it had already submitted the first ideas to the FIA last year – just after Ferrari.

Red Bull car tech detail

While many teams in the pitlane were surprised when Ferrari unveiled the Macarena wing, that was not the case for Red Bull. Laurent Mekies’ team explained that it simply could not bring its own version to the track in time for the first three race weekends, which is why it is being used for the first time in Miami following a successful test at Silverstone.

The Red Bull wing also works slightly differently from Ferrari’s, which can rotate up to 270 degrees. The Red Bull version seemingly rotates 160 degrees in the opposite direction compared to the Ferrari concept. The aim in terms of lift and further reducing drag is, logically, the same.

“To allow more travel, the mechanism and attachments to the elements has been revised necessitating a subtle altering of the third profile near centreline,” Red Bull stated.

Red Bull draws attention with heavily revised sidepods

The rear wing is certainly not the only change to the RB22 this weekend. The front wing and the inlets at the front corner of the car have also been slightly modified, “to draw inlet air from the highest pressure source available and exit with minimal blockage.”

A bit further back, the sidepods stand out. The side view is very different from the package Red Bull used in Japan, with the sidepods now dropping off more aggressively after a kink. Moreover, a significant waterslide can be found in the revised design.

These changes work in combination with an updated engine cover and a new floor. “The revised bib geometry accommodates changes to the forward floor structure, then blends with the sidepod to then meet the engine cover. Extracting more load whilst maintaining the downstream flow stability.”

Red Bull car tech detail

Miami update tackles overweight RB22

In addition to these visible changes, Red Bull also worked on the weight of its 2026 car. The RB22 is still overweight but, according to insiders, significantly less so than during the first three race weekends of 2026.

At the start of this season, the new car from technical director Pierre Wache was around 12kg overweight, after which this upgrade should roughly halve that excess weight.

With a further step during the European part of the season – currently expected at the Austrian or British Grand Prix – the team hopes to reach the minimum weight of 768kg.

Red Bull says that the initial signals from this package have been positive, which is also important regarding the correlation. In Japan, both Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar indicated that Red Bull did not yet understand the problems, meaning that getting to the bottom of those issues has been the first step.

Team principal Mekies hopes for a step forward in Miami, but has at the same time warned that fans should “not expect miracles” after the very difficult start to the season.

“We do not expect to have solved all our issues in one go, however we certainly aim to give Max and Isack a car they will feel more comfortable to push with. Ultimately only the Miami track will reveal the answer to how good a job we have done and how much we still need to find.”

Photos from Miami GP - Thursday

George Russell, Mercedes

James Sutton / Formula 1 / Formula Motorsport Ltd via Getty Images

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Ryan Pierse / Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images

Pierre Gasly, Alpine

Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

Lando Norris, McLaren

Ryan Pierse / Getty Images

The Ferrari front wing

Kym Illman / Getty Images

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing

Mark Thompson / Getty Images

Graeme Lowdon, Team Principal of Cadillac F1 Team, Terry Crews

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Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari

Ryan Pierse / Getty Images

Nigel Mansell

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Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

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Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi F1 Team

Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

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Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

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Franco Colapinto, Alpine

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Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi F1 Team

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Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing

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Pierre Gasly, Alpine, Franco Colapinto, Alpine

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Racing Bulls team photo

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