Verstappen calls rear wing failures ‘super-dangerous’ after Silverstone crash

What happened? Max Verstappen said a rear wing failure caused him to crash while chasing Lewis Hamilton at the British Grand Prix, describing the incident as “super-dangerous”. Where? The crash occurred at the high-speed Stowe corner in Silverstone. Who explained it? Verstappen made the comments after the race and Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies also issued a statement. When? The incident took place on lap 48 of the British Grand Prix. Most important outcome? The failure mirrored a similar rear wing issue in qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix the previous weekend and highlighted recurring safety and reliability concerns for Red Bull.

Verstappen said the rear wing did not close properly when straight-line mode disengaged on corner entry, causing a sudden loss of downforce and a spin. He voiced frustration on team radio after the Silverstone incident and said he had been lucky not to be hurt, as he had been in Austria.

Red Bull’s Mekies acknowledged the problem and called it “unpleasant” for the drivers, noting that the two failures had different technical causes but the same dangerous outcome. He said the team would take measures to prevent a recurrence and understood Verstappen’s unhappiness.

The incidents relate to Red Bull’s unconventional rear wing mechanism designed to increase straight-line speed by opening the wing more widely than conventional DRS-style systems. Red Bull’s design flips the wing by rotating the front edge backwards as it turns upside down, while Ferrari’s rotates upwards before flipping.

Ferrari and Red Bull have pursued larger wing openings to reduce drag. McLaren also trialled a similar-style wing in Austria but chose not to run it after garage tests showed it was not ready.

Verstappen, who is contracted to Red Bull until 2028, sits seventh in the championship after nine races and is 103 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes. He has retired from three races this season because of car problems, and said he needs time to reset after the latest incident.

Mekies reiterated that the team takes the matter seriously and will implement what is necessary to avoid sending drivers into gravel traps due to mechanical failures. He added that, at minimum, Verstappen was right to be unhappy with the team’s performance in consecutive high-speed corner failures.