Ferrari upgrades Macarena wing for F1 Hungarian GP after missing trick

Ferrari has brought an upgraded version of its Macarena rear wing design to this weekend’s Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix. 

The Italian outfit has added some extra aerodynamic elements in the defined legality box where its rear wing actuator usually sits. 

This comes as part of a push to increase downforce around the tight and twisty Hungaroring, which is among the highest-downforce circuits on the F1 calendar. 

Ferrari has essentially copied what many of its rivals did at the Monaco Grand Prix, with a handful of teams replacing their rear wing actuators with a cluster of tiny aerodynamic winglets. 

Mercedes, McLaren, Red Bull and Racing Bulls were among the teams that opted for the novel approach in Monaco, but Ferrari did not. 

This led Lewis Hamilton to suggest that Ferrari had missed a trick by not introducing the extra winglets intended to increase downforce. 

“I think when we arrived on Thursday we saw other people, those guys with trick additions to their wing, we didn’t have that, which was a little bit of a surprise,” the seven-time world champion said in Monaco.

Ferrari’s design to the new winglets appears to have taken inspiration from the solution used by McLaren in Monaco. 

It is understood that Ferrari’s latest version is not the dubbed 'Macarena 2.0' that is believed to be in development, and could be introduced for its home race at the Italian Grand Prix. 

Meanwhile, McLaren is finally set to debut its long-awaited version of its Macarena rear wing this weekend in Budapest. 

The reigning world champions originally planned to test the item in Austria but it never appeared on the MCL40  

McLaren abandoned plans to test its experimental rear wing after encountering early teething problems. 

It will finally run its upside-down rear wing for the first time at the Hungarian Grand Prix as part of a significant upgrade package, however McLaren is expected to revert to an older-spec following Friday practice. 

"We have an upgrade package arriving this weekend, and in such a competitive season every development is important so it will be great to gather further understanding on how those parts perform throughout free practice," McLaren's senior director of racing Randy Singh said. 

“Our aim is to maximise everything we have available, carry positive momentum into the shutdown and put ourselves in the strongest possible position for the second half of the championship.”