Stella: McLaren's 'Macarena' Rear Wing Didn't Surprise Us

McLaren team boss Andrea Stella has revealed that the team is not "surprised" by the complexity of developing their own 'Macarena' style rear-wing, a project that has been in the works for some time.

The design first caught attention during Bahrain pre-season testing when Lewis Hamilton used it. The rear-wing flap rotates 270 degrees to open and close, unlike the traditional DRS flap. The goal is to generate downforce on straights and reduce drag, similar to an upside-down aircraft wing.

Ferrari then tested the system in practice for the Chinese GP before formally introducing it at the Miami GP. Red Bull also added the wing to its RB22, but with a different working mechanism. Max Verstappen suffered crashes in Austria qualifying and the British GP after airflow failed to reattach in time.

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McLaren initially brought the part to Montreal but did not use it, only debuting it on Oscar Piastri's car during FP1 in Hungary. Stella explained the "delicate" process behind evaluating the wing and acknowledged the project's complexity, but said the team was prepared.

"The project with the rotating flap is, I have to say, a complicated project," Stella told media. "It was no surprise because when we saw Ferrari introducing the wing in Bahrain, and then testing it in China, it took a few more events to be ready to race. We knew it was going to be complicated."

Stella added that McLaren's engineering department has delivered the project well, with the wing behaving as expected. "There are some limitations in the regulations, not only for aerodynamic reasons, but also for the overall behaviour, the reattachment, and the time it takes the car to regain load," he explained.

He also stressed the importance of track data over wind tunnel for such a delicate project. "I don't think the wind tunnel is a major factor in determining re-attachment behaviour. The most important tool remains what you observe at the track," Stella concluded.