Overview
- Two separate failures on Max Verstappen’s Red Bull — one in Austria and one at Silverstone — caused loss of rear downforce and high‑speed crashes, prompting safety concern about the teams’ rotating rear‑wing systems.
- The FIA has formally requested technical information and held safety talks with Red Bull and Ferrari to review whether the designs meet rules and operate safely when switching from straight to corner mode.
- Red Bull has opened an internal probe and says it will consider all options, including reverting to a conventional wing or not running the rotating device at Spa‑Francorchamps, while Ferrari has reported no comparable failures so far.
- A central technical issue is aerodynamic reattachment after the flap moves; the regulations require the flap transition to complete within 400 milliseconds but that limit does not guarantee instant airflow recovery into cornering mode.
- Other teams such as McLaren have delayed on‑track use and the FIA could require extra checks or mitigations or, in extreme cases, restrict or ban the concept if it concludes the parts are unsafe.