Ferrari have brought their innovative rotating rear wing – being dubbed the ‘macarena’ – to the Chinese Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton proud the team are “pushing and chasing” for upgrades so early in the season.
The Scuderia caused a stir on the penultimate day of testing in Bahrain last month when they debuted the unique rear-wing design on their SF-26 car.
When the car is in straight-line mode, instead of the usual method of the top element of the rear wing flattening to reduce drag, Ferrari’s design rotates into an upside-down position.
The design was not brought to last week’s season-opener in Australia but was spotted in the pit lane on the car ahead of this weekend’s Sprint weekend at the Shanghai International Circuit, which features one of the longest straights on the calendar at 1.1km where straight-line speed is key.
“We did a full day or so on the wing, so I think we got all the running needed for it,” said Hamilton of its initial running in testing.
“And I’m so grateful for the team too, because it was actually supposed to be later down the line and they worked really hard to develop it and get it brought here.
“So it’s great to see that the team are fighting, the team are pushing and chasing and really working overtime back at the factory to be able to bring upgrades, because that’s the name of the game.
“I think last year I didn’t get to see the team’s full potential in that mode, because we were focused on this year’s cars.”
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George Russell believes Mercedes has the quickest car but admits he’s cautious of other teams’ upgrades this season
On whether he had felt any difference when running the wing – which is now being called the ‘macarena’ after the 1990s dance sensation – in Bahrain, Hamilton said: “Unfortunately, it did the same, we just see it in the mirror.
“So I’m looking forward to seeing what it will do here.”
‘Not an impossible gap to close’ – will Ferrari be closer to Mercedes in China?
Ferrari arrive in Shanghai aiming to build on a competitive start to F1’s new era last week in Melbourne, where they finished third and fourth behind the Mercedes drivers.
While the Scuderia’s drivers push eventual race winner George Russell hard in the opening stages of the Melbourne race before strategies diverged after a Virtual Safety Car, Hamilton says his old team’s qualifying advantage of 0.8s showed the outright gap Ferrari have to close.
“We knew that Mercedes were looking really strong but little did we know it was as big a gap that we saw,” said Hamilton.
“It’s not an impossible gap to close but just it’s going to take all hands on deck and I’m confident in my team doing everything back at the factory to try and close that gap.”
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Listen in as Charles Leclerc compares his epic duel with George Russell to the mushroom from Mario Kart.
Hamilton – who won last year’s Sprint race in China in what remains the best result of his Ferrari career so far – played down their chances of beating Mercedes this weekend but was hopeful of another step forward.
“It’s far to early to say and, secondly, we were eight tenths behind in qualifying in the last race,” he added.
“We haven’t added eight tenths of performance to the car in four days. I think it will still be very tough to beat Mercedes this weekend. You also have to assume the others are going to be picking up pace – like McLaren and the second Red Bull being in the fight as well.
“We’ll just focus on doing the best job we can and extracting the most from the car.”
He added: “It’s not eight tenths but we could hopefully extract a bit more from the car this weekend. So I’m really excited for the weekend.”
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Ride on board with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc as they both get a rocketing start off the line in Australia
Team-mate Charles Leclerc, who engaged in a thrilling early ding-dong duel for the lead with Russell last Sunday, believes the longer race distance does, however, again offer Ferrari their best chance to challenge the Silver Arrows at the moment.
“In qualifying it’s going to take a lot of work in order to change the advantage that they have,” said Leclerc.
“Eight tenths in Melbourne was absolutely huge, I don’t expect it to be much closer here.
“Closer for sure, there are things we are optimising that we haven’t optimise in Melbourne, so it will get better. But they still have a significant advantage.
“In the race we are closer so I hope starting from this weekend we can put them under a bit more pressure.”
Sky Sports F1’s Chinese GP schedule
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Look back at some of the most dramatic moments to have taken place around the Shanghai International Circuit
Friday March 13
1.05am: F1 Academy Practice
3am: Chinese GP Practice (session starts at 3.30am)*
5.30am: Team Bosses Press Conference*
6am: F1 Academy Qualifying*
6.45am: Chinese GP Sprint Qualifying (session starts at 7.30am)*
Saturday March 14
2.25am: Chinese GP Sprint build-up*
3am: CHINESE GP SPRINT*
4.30am: Ted’s Sprint Notebook*
5.30am: F1 Academy Race 1*
6.30am: Chinese GP Qualifying build-up*
7am: CHINESE GP QUALIFYING*
9am: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*
Sunday March 15
2.35am: F1 Academy Race 2*
5.30am: Chinese GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
7am: THE CHINESE GRAND PRIX*
9am: Chinese GP reaction: Chequered Flag*
10am: Ted’s Notebook*
*Also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 is in Shanghai for the first Sprint weekend of the 2026 season at the Chinese Grand Prix from this Friday, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
