Ferrari tries the funky wing, then decides not to dance
Ferrari caused a small aerodynamic commotion in Shanghai by fitting their rotating "Macarena" rear wing in the single practice session, then switching back to a conventional wing for Sprint qualifying. Lewis Hamilton said he was left wondering why the team abandoned the novel design so quickly.
What is the "Macarena" wing?
The wing rotates through 270 degrees to open and close. It first appeared during pre-season testing in Bahrain, but it did not feature on either Ferrari at the Australian Grand Prix.
What happened in Shanghai?
- Ferrari ran the rotating wing on both Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in the only practice session.
- For Sprint qualifying, both cars reverted to a more traditional rear wing design.
- Hamilton qualified fourth, Leclerc was sixth.
Qualifying snapshot
- George Russell took pole with a 1:31.520.
- Hamilton set a best of 1:32.161, 0.641 seconds slower than Russell.
- Lando Norris qualified third, Oscar Piastri was fifth, with Ferrari filling fourth and sixth.
Hamilton said he did not have an immediate explanation for the change. He pointed out that the team had rushed the new device to Shanghai, and that it was originally intended to arrive later in the season.
"I don't really know why we went back on it," he said. "We rushed it to get it here, and it was not supposed to be on the car until like race four or five or something like that.
"So did a great job to rush it here, and we only had two of them, but maybe it was a bit premature.
"So we took it off the car, it was still great, and we'll work to try and bring it back when it is ready."
Translation: Ferrari tried a bold idea, the team moved fast to get it on track, but they may have arrived before it was fully baked. The device will likely return only when the engineers are confident it is race-ready.
