Laurent Mekies says Red Bull Racing came up with Macarena rear wing concept before Ferrari

Ferrari turned heads with their rotating rear wing flap at the start of the 2026  Formula 1 season, which was then dubbed the "Macarena" rear wing.

However, the Italian team have not fully implemented the concept yet, while Red Bull have introduced it on their RB22 as part of a major upgrade they brought this weekend in Miami.

Max Verstappen was second fastest behind Charles Leclerc in FP1 for the Miami Grand Prix, which marks an improvement for the Milton Keynes squad after their early troubles in 2026.

When asked about Red Bull's latest upgrade, Mekies said: "Honestly, we only looked at ourselves during that session.

"It was so important after the big break and with all the big changes on the car to try to assess us against us; really, that was the main purpose.

"In China and Japan, regardless of where the competition was, there were a lot of things that were stopping Max and Isaac from pushing, and that’s what we’re trying to fix.

"The gap to competition we’ll look at a bit later, but certainly on Max’s side there is a sign that we have something he can push a bit more with," he pointed out.

As for the Macarena rear wing, the Frenchman insisted his team did not copy Ferrari but rather had come up with the concept long before but did not introduce it.

He added: "As much as you will not believe me anyway, but I have to say it in fairness to the guys; the guys came up with that concept far before we hit the track and we saw what everybody else had been doing.

"But, as we said, we had bigger issues to solve before to be able to bring that rear wing to the track. So, it’s a good indication of how hard everyone is pushing," Mekies concluded. (Source: Sky Sports F1)