McLaren has put its plans to evaluate a new low-drag rear wing package on pause until after the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Autosport has learned.

The team brought a rear wing treatment inspired by Ferrari’s so-called ‘Macarena’ wing to the Red Bull Ring and planned to evaluate it on Lando Norris‘ car during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. But it decided the component needed more development before trying it on track, where any failure would cost valuable running time.

First seen on Ferrari’s SF-26, though Red Bull had a similar concept in development that it introduced slightly later, the ‘Macarena’ wing features a different actuation mechanism for the upper rear wing flap when Straight Line Mode is deployed. Rather than pulling the flap closer to the horizontal, as with the old Drag Reduction System (DRS), the actuator rotates the entire flap.

It’s understood that the pivoting wing offers a greater drag-defeating effect than a conventionally actuated one, but the mechanism requires a great deal of development to be robust enough for frequent use in a race environment. There is also a learning process in terms of how it affects the aerodynamic map of the car during the transition phase – when it is rotating – because this has second-order effects on tyre loadings and downforce levels when approaching corners.

“We have to iron it out, we have to try and make sure it works, and maybe in a couple of races we can introduce it properly,” said Norris on Thursday in Austria, when he was still expecting to try the new wing.

“It’s just a good job by the team to try and push forward as quickly as possible. It’s not an easy project. It takes time to figure out such a complicated wing like this.

McLaren ran its regular rear wing setup during practice in Austria

Photo by: Getty Images

“But it’s cool, it’s innovative, it’s nice to see. It was pretty cool to see Ferrari at the beginning of the year, and it’s amazing what someone who understands the rules and regulations and understands the wording, how you kind of work around these areas.

“And I think that’s something that makes Formula 1 very special, how people can create these kind of concepts. I wish we had it three months ago already.”

Before the start of the 2026 season, McLaren’s chief technical officer Rob Marshall suggested his team would spend the first few races learning about the behaviour of its MCL40, and observing others’ innovations, before deciding on a definitive development path for the car.

The cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grands Prix shifted the timelines slightly since it, in effect, put the season on pause after just three rounds, but also provided a whole month without races in which to focus on technical development.

Research and manufacturing lead times are such that we are only now seeing the results of teams being “inspired” by large, sophisticated innovations introduced by others at the start of the season. And with components such as this there is an element of risk versus reward, given the limitations imposed by F1’s budget cap.

McLaren must therefore have a high level of confidence that this is worth pursuing. But at the same time it has to balance those risks, given its position in the constructors’ championship relative to Mercedes and Ferrari. Norris is already a distant fifth in the drivers’ standings, with fewer than half the points of championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Michael Potts / LAT Images via Getty Images

The new rear wing may provide a performance benefit, but in modern F1 there is no single component you can fit to a car and find half a second per lap. There is more to be lost by missing out on track time during practice – and as it happened, a hydraulic leak delayed Norris’ arrival on track in Austria anyway.

Since there is only one hour of practice on a sprint weekend, it is highly unlikely McLaren will evaluate the new wing at Silverstone. It will probably not be seen in public until Belgium.

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During the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, Paul Monaghan emerged as the latest senior Red Bull figure to be linked with a departure from the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

RacingNews365 was first to report on Friday that the 58-year-old chief engineer is on his way to Cadillac. Officially, neither team is willing to comment on the reports, but Autosport understands from sources in the paddock that there is substance behind the story.

Although there has been no official announcement and the potential move would, in any case, be something for the longer term, the situation does not stand in isolation. Earlier this year, it became clear that Max Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase will join McLaren in 2028.

Previously, Adrian Newey, Jonathan Wheatley, Will Courtenay and Rob Marshall all left for rival teams, while Red Bull itself has parted ways with Christian Horner and Helmut Marko.

Each case, however, is different and has to be judged on its own merits – including personal financial considerations – and the same applies here, with Monaghan potentially taking up a more senior role within Cadillac’s engineering department.

Although Red Bull is not yet willing to comment publicly, insiders at the team stress that a succession plan is in place for every senior figure – including Monaghan.

Paul Monaghan, Chief Engineer, Red Bull Racing, in the Team Principals Press Conference

Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images

“There are a lot of rumours about the team and the team personnel. And as much as we have commented on GP [Lambiase], because obviously he’s very exposed. He’s one of our very exposed engineers and he’s going into an even more exposed role, but I don’t think it will be right for me to comment on every single rumour that comes out,” Mekies said.

“If I look at the names that have been circulating in the last few months, most of them are still in the garage. Some had never wanted to leave, some have changed their mind and are staying with us.”

The latter remark appears to refer, among other things, to speculation surrounding Hannah Schmitz, although the reports regarding Monaghan seem to carry far more substance.

Is there enough strength in depth left within Red Bull?

While Red Bull does not want to discuss specific names at this stage, Mekies confirmed that, in his view, sufficient talent remains within the team for the future – even in the event of Monaghan’s departure.

“On that, I’m extremely confident”, Mekies said when asked by Autosport. “And I refer to the comment I made earlier what was the most striking aspect of the first 12 months. The most striking aspect is the strength in depth that we have.

“We have incredible talent at all levels and therefore we’ll certainly not go and look for an excuse to tell you we are missing A, B or C in order to go back to ultimate competitiveness. We have everything in-house.

Laurent Mekies, Red Bull Racing Team Principal

Photo by: Clive Mason / Getty Images

“If we need something to complete the equation, we will do it, but we are certainly not limited by the quality of the talents we have.”

In practice, this means that Red Bull first looks to promote from within whenever senior figures leave. That was also the case earlier this year with chief performance and design engineer Ben Waterhouse.

“For Max, only a fast car matters”

Nevertheless, all changes within the team – combined with Red Bull’s current deficit on track – naturally raise the question of whether the team can do enough to convince Verstappen to remain beyond this season.

Mekies emphasises that only one thing matters: the stopwatch.

In that regard, Red Bull’s upgrade package in Spielberg is of major importance, not least because Mekies acknowledges that under the budget cap Red Bull cannot introduce upgrades indefinitely.

“Max wants a fast car. He always wanted a fast car, and he completely trusts us in making sure we are doing everything we can, short term and long term, to ensure a return to success and continuous success,” Mekies replied.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Clive Rose / Formula 1 via Getty Images

“As I said a few weeks ago, we are not asking Max every week [if he stays]. He’s pushing with us, he’s helping us to find the right development path for the car, again this morning doing very large test scans through the sessions to try to turn all the stones possible. So, it’s not a topic for us.

“The topic for us is get the car back to where we want it to be. And as you may, I hope, agree, if the car is back where we want it to be, there will be no discussion.”

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Formula 1 world championship leader Kimi Antonelli completed a perfect Friday at the Austrian Grand Prix by going fastest in second practice.

The Mercedes driver beat McLaren pair Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris with a 1m07.014s after also topping FP1 on an extremely hot day at the Red Bull Ring. 

Such heat caused a unique challenge as, although the start of FP2 saw drivers frantically hit the 49C track on either medium or hard rubber, the opening stage was defined by reliability woes. 

Alex Albon reported “no power” inside his Williams, Arvid Lindblad had trouble with his VCARB 03, whereas Sergio Perez stopped at Turn 6 due to his Cadillac overheating.

That caused a brief virtual safety car and it was only soon after that Antonelli became the first driver to beat his own FP1 benchmark (1m07.796s) with a 1m07.657s on medium tyres. 

But his time would only ever be the pacesetter temporarily with the soft tyre, with qualifying sim runs kicking in after the 30-minutes halfway point, as Piastri soon toppled Antonelli.

The McLaren driver set a 1m07.251s, which team-mate Norris and Lewis Hamilton soon respectively got within 0.088s and 0.360s of, before a 1m07.209s put Antonelli top again. 

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Clive Rose / Formula 1 via Getty Images

This was where the championship leader started to hit his stride because it was with 20 minutes remaining that he improved again to a 1m07.014s, 0.195s quicker than his previous best lap. 

That would subsequently go unbeaten with teams returning to the harder compounds for the final stages, leaving McLaren to complete the top three and bounce back from its reliability woes in FP1. 

Best of the rest was fourth-placed Max Verstappen, who was 0.550s off the pace after setting a 1m07.564s late in the soft tyre window ahead of Hamilton (1m07.611s) in fifth.

It was an underwhelming session for Antonelli’s team-mate George Russell, who only mustered sixth on a 1m07.637s with each lap looking a challenge for the Mercedes title hopeful.

That time put the Briton 0.121s faster than seventh-placed Isack Hadjar who, like Red Bull team-mate Verstappen, consistently struggled with a drop of engine RPM at Turn 3.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (+0.841s), Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson (+1.221s) and Audi sophomore Gabriel Bortoleto (+1.286s) completed the top 10.

F1 Austrian GP – FP2 results

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Formula 1’s governing body, the FIA, has officially tightened the 2027 technical regulations to outlaw Ferrari’s exhaust wings.

Ferrari pioneered the exhaust wing during pre-season testing in Bahrain, having found a loophole in the 2026 technical regulations to extract more downforce from the rear of the car, using exhaust gas to supply air to a tiny winglet perched atop the tailpipe.

This year, teams were allowed to place an aerodynamic device in that area of the car as long as it does not exceed 60mm from the axle and, normally, that constraint would not allow the device to extend beyond the end of the exhaust.

However, as revealed by Autosport in pre-season testing, Ferrari engineers managed to get around the problem by moving the differential as far back as possible, taking advantage of the space under the deformable structure. Because that area of the car was designed by Ferrari with that specific device in mind, which was internally dubbed FTM, that meant it was tough for rivals to copy it easily.

The exhaust wing is legal right now, but following talks with the FIA, the governing body has now decided to tidy up the regulations to block Ferrari’s solution in 2027, avoiding designs getting out of control.

In the latest version of the F1 2027 technical regulations, which was published on Friday after being ratified by the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council in Macau, the FIA has implemented an exclusion zone.

Article C2.3.7 reads: “Except for tailpipe, no part of the car may lie within a right circular cylinder which intersects the planes XR = 385 and XDIF = 800, and whose axis is identical to, and diameter 20mm greater than, that of the right circular cylinder defined in C3.9.2(g).”

Mercedes has been running with a small bracket atop the tailpipe since Miami.

Photo by: Andrej Isakovic / AFP via Getty Images

From Miami onwards rival teams, including Mercedes, found a different loophole to use an exhaust tailpipe bracket and have it act as a winglet, even if it’s less powerful than Ferrari’s baked-in solution. But that loophole now also appears closed after the FIA heavily revamped the relevant article in the regulations, C3.9, which places further restrictions on the placement and shape of the tailpipe and any adjacent bodywork.

Austria trials

During Friday’s first practice, Lewis Hamilton was seen driving his SF-26 with the exhaust wing attached, while images show rookie driver Dino Beganovic was initially using the device before having it removed for the remainder of the session.

It is understood to be a comparative test between the two configurations for later events this year. Having a rookie driver in the car anyway, instead of regular driver Charles Leclerc, meant Austria FP1 was an opportunity to trial the set-up with little downside.

Depending on the results, the wingless set-up could be deployed later this year at lower-downforce circuits, such as Monza, where the benefit of the extra downforce might not outweigh the corresponding drag penalty.

Other 2027 clampdowns approved by the FIA WMSC include the position of the floor body stays and their interaction with the sidepod bodywork, and further restrictions on the suspension design and the behaviour of the dampers.

Dino Beganovic, Ferrari

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

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