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Ferrari Shelves Radical Rotating Rear Wing After One Practice Run in Shanghai

Ferrari says the removal was precautionary over reliability, with a re‑evaluation planned after FP1 data analysis.

Overview

  • The rotating ‘Macarena’ rear wing ran on both cars in FP1, then was taken off before Sprint Qualifying as Ferrari reverted to its conventional Melbourne‑spec rear wing for the rest of the weekend.
  • Team reasoning centered on reliability and limited validation time on a sprint-format weekend, with reporting indicating the performance gain was not decisive enough to justify the risk.
  • Lewis Hamilton said the part was rushed several races ahead of schedule and that only two units were available.
  • Results offered no clear uplift: Ferrari ranked fifth and sixth in practice, then Hamilton qualified fourth and Charles Leclerc sixth for the Sprint as Mercedes secured a front‑row lockout.
  • Ferrari will analyze Shanghai data in Maranello and could reintroduce the concept at a later round such as Japan, while Haas fielded a milder exhaust‑wing variant and Ferrari also confirmed small halo‑pillar winglets in its FIA submission.