Ferrari shelves "macarena" rotating rear wing after brief Chinese Grand Prix trial

Ferrari’s bold rotating rear wing made a brief return at the Chinese Grand Prix, only to be withdrawn before competitive running began in earnest. The innovative design, capable of rotating 180 degrees, was trialled during Friday’s sole free practice session in Shanghai but ultimately deemed too premature for race use.

A short-lived experiment

First seen during pre-season testing, the rear wing was fitted to both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton for the weekend’s only practice session. The run was not without drama. Hamilton endured a spin when the wing closed on approach to the Turn 6 braking zone.

“Brakes locked up,” he reported succinctly over team radio.

Despite the incident, Ferrari initially pressed ahead with the evaluation. However, by sprint qualifying, the Scuderia had reverted to its more conventional Melbourne-spec rear wing.

Hamilton: “Maybe a little bit premature”

Hamilton admitted he was uncertain why the team ultimately decided against continuing with the new specification.

“I don't really know why we went back on it,” he said. “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.”

Ferrari was understood to be satisfied with the wing’s performance relative to its standard version and encouraged by its reliability. However, without sufficient guarantees to justify running it over a full race distance, the team opted against taking the risk. The fact that it was not expected to deliver a transformative performance gain made that call easier.

Further analysis will now take place in Maranello ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix in two weeks’ time.

Qualifying exposes straight-line deficit

With the conventional rear wing reinstated, Hamilton and Leclerc qualified fourth and sixth respectively. Hamilton finished 0.641s adrift of polesitter George Russell, while Leclerc was a further 0.367s back.

Leclerc’s deficit was compounded by an unspecified issue on the back straight. Team principal Fred Vasseur explained that “he didn't have the same deployment as the lap before,” a matter the team will investigate further.

Hamilton: “When you’re down on power, it's just the way it is”

Hamilton praised his team’s response after a difficult practice session.

“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. It was something that I think we were conscious of last year that we thought that Mercedes started earlier than us or the rest, which they did last time as well. So they've done a fantastic job and we've got to step up. We've got to push to be able to close that gap.

“I think car-wise, the car feels great, I think we can compete with them through corners. But when you're down on power, it's just the way it is.”

Leclerc: stronger on Sunday?

Leclerc downplayed the broader impact of the experimental rear wing, insisting it “doesn't really change the picture from where we are.” He echoed Hamilton’s assessment of Mercedes’ qualifying strength.

“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.”

For Ferrari, the Chinese Grand Prix underlined two parallel realities: an encouragingly balanced car through the corners, and a straight-line deficit that continues to shape its competitive picture. The rotating rear wing may yet return, but only once the Scuderia is confident it is ready for the demands of a full race weekend.