Ferrari tested its innovative rotating rear wing during free practice at the Chinese Grand Prix but reverted to a conventional design for sprint qualifying. The team cited insufficient guarantees for race use despite positive initial feedback. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc qualified fourth and sixth respectively.
Ferrari introduced its ground-breaking rear wing, which rotates 180 degrees and has been nicknamed the 'Macarena', during the free practice session (FP1) at the Shanghai International Circuit for the Chinese Grand Prix. Both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton ran the wing, but Hamilton experienced a spin in Turn 6 when it closed during braking, leading him to report over the radio that his brakes had locked up.
The team decided to switch back to the more conventional rear wing specification from the Melbourne race for sprint qualifying. Hamilton expressed surprise at the change, stating, “I don't really know why we went back on it. I think we rushed it to get it here and it was not supposed to be on the cards until I think it was race four or five or something like that. So they did a great job to rush it here. We only had two of them and it was maybe a little bit premature. So we took it off. The car was still great and we'll work to try and bring it back when it's ready.”
According to reports, Ferrari found the wing's performance satisfactory compared to the standard version and was encouraged by its reliability. However, the team lacked enough assurances to risk using it for the full race weekend, especially since it would not deliver a significant performance advantage. Further analysis will occur at the team's Maranello base before the Japanese Grand Prix in two weeks.
In sprint qualifying, Hamilton finished fourth, 0.641 seconds behind polesitter George Russell of Mercedes, while Leclerc placed sixth, an additional 0.367 seconds adrift. Leclerc faced an issue on the back straight that reduced his deployment, as explained by team principal Fred Vasseur: “He didn't have the same deployment as the lap before.”
Hamilton praised his team's efforts, noting, “My team did a really great job. My engineers did a fantastic job to turn the car around, because in P1 it was a tricky session with that spin and the car generally felt great. It’s just we're losing, I think it is on the straights, it's a lot of time to be losing. So we have a lot of work to do. We really have to push so hard back in Maranello to improve on power.” He acknowledged Mercedes' advantage, adding that Ferrari competes well in corners but struggles with power deficits.
Leclerc remarked that the innovative wing “doesn't really change the picture from where we are” and remained optimistic for the race, saying, “In qualifying, for some reason, the Mercedes power unit finds a lot of lap time. We don't quite find that amount of lap time just yet in qualifying, but in the race we are closer. So I'm still hopeful we can come back tomorrow.”
