Mercedes had a Macarena wing designed: this is why they opted against it

This season, almost every frontrunner team, including Ferrari, Red Bull Racing and McLaren, has developed and used a so-called 'Macarena' wing. The exception is Mercedes.

Speaking on the Nu Silver Arrows Radio Show, Simone Resta, Mercedes' Deputy Technical Director, explained that the team had started considering the Macarena wing a long time ago.

The Italian began: "I am probably going to say something we have not shared before: we had this type of wing on our drawing board more than a year ago. We evaluated the concept in detail."

Resta continued: "It clearly offers a drag-reduction benefit, but it also reduces downforce whenever the system is open. At the time, we did not believe the overall compromise justified the development investment or manufacture of components."

Resta did not rule out that at some point, Mercedes would revisit the topic.

He explained: "That conclusion is not necessarily permanent, however, and we may revisit it. We remain humble, assess every solution we see elsewhere and consider whether there is anything useful for us to adopt."

Kimi Antonelli finished third behind Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc at the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend while using the team's latest upgrade package. Although the Italian is not yet completely comfortable with his car, he believes they will improve once they find the right setup.

He began: "I think on this track, not yet. On this track, where you have a lot of slow speed, still not quite there in terms of performance. It's just because with the old package, you know exactly where to put the car, which window, and the car works very nicely.

"So also in driving, it's very sensitive to any differences that you do in the way you approach a corner or how you attack braking. So, I feel like, yes, the package is going to be faster and it's going to be, yeah, I think it can be a good step forward once we understand how to use the full potential," the current championship leader concluded.