Ferrari made a surprise decision before the Sprint Qualifying of the Chinese Grand Prix. The Italian team has finally decided against using its famous revolutionary rear wing for the rest of the weekend.
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One of the major technical curiosities of the weekend at the Shanghai circuit will ultimately not be used in the race. After testing it during the free practice session, Ferrari decided to withdraw its new rear wing nicknamed the “Macarena”.
This very specific part was first introduced during winter testing in Bahrain and has been the talk of the paddock for several weeks.
Its operation is based on an unprecedented principle linked to the new active aerodynamics rules introduced this season. The wing can notably change orientation or flip over in order to optimize performance depending on the driving phases.
Its spectacular behavior quickly earned it its nickname in reference to the famous song Macarena by the Spanish duo Los del Río.
An accelerated introduction by Ferrari
Originally, this evolution was supposed to be introduced much later in the season. However, the Maranello engineers accelerated the schedule to bring it as early as the second round of the championship.
Before the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix weekend, Lewis Hamilton had also praised the work done by the Ferrari factory to finalize the part in time.
The story of its arrival in China is also quite unusual : as the wing was not ready early enough to be transported by the usual F1 logistics, it was brought to Shanghai directly in the luggage of team members. This express arrival had heightened curiosity around this technical innovation.
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However, the first laps completed with this wing during the single free practice session did not fully convince the Italian team. At the end of the session, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton only set the fifth and sixth fastest times.
Even if these results are not catastrophic, they did not seem encouraging enough to push Ferrari to continue using this solution this weekend.
A return to the Melbourne configuration
After analyzing the data collected during the session, Ferrari therefore decided to return to the configuration used during the previous round in Australia. Specifically, the two SF-26s will now use the rear wing called “Melbourne specification” for the rest of the Chinese weekend.
According to information circulating in the paddock, this decision is mainly linked to questions regarding the reliability of the new part. In a sprint weekend where the teams have very little time to adjust their cars, Ferrari clearly preferred to play it safe.
The temporary abandonment of this wing does not, however, mean that Ferrari is permanently giving up on this innovation. The Maranello engineers are expected to continue analyzing the collected data to improve the reliability and efficiency of the system. If these adjustments are successful, the famous “Macarena wing” could therefore reappear at a future Grand Prix.
In the meantime, Ferrari will have to rely on a more classic configuration to try and play a leading role during the Sprint Qualifying and the weekend’s race at the Shanghai circuit.
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