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Anthony Davidson thinks Ferrari were “brave” to abandon their Macarena rear wing before F1 Sprint Qualifying in China given how badly Charles Leclerc’s SF-26 handled.
The Scuderia impressed Lewis Hamilton by bringing their Macarena rear wing to the Chinese Grand Prix this week. Ferrari rushed the development of the wing that Hamilton briefly used during pre-season testing in Bahrain, yet felt this Friday that it is not quite ready to be raced.
Hamilton was “so grateful” to Ferrari for getting their Macarena rear wing to China, as their rushed development convinced him that he was now seeing the Scuderia’s “full potential”. The wing is designed to decrease the SF-26’s drag levels, whilst also helping to save energy.
Hamilton and Leclerc both had Ferrari’s rear wing, which flips the upper flag previously used for DRS when in straight mode, on their cars for practice in Shanghai. However, the data that the Scuderia registered raised concerns about the reliability of the wing over a full weekend.
Ferrari abandoned their Macarena rear wing before Sprint Qualifying due to reliability concerns
Did Ferrari make a mistake? Let us know!
Anthony Davidson thinks Ferrari removing their Macarena rear wing caused Charles Leclerc’s oversteer problems
So, fearing a reliability failure, Ferrari removed their Macarena rear wing from Hamilton and Leclerc’s cars prior to Sprint Qualifying in Shanghai. But Davidson feels the decision caused rear instability problems, after seeing Leclerc struggle with oversteer from the start of SQ1.
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Davidson said on Sky Sports F1 (13/03, 07:34): “Really oversteering, and I hope for their sake [that] the aero balance is the same between the two rear wings. Because I think it was a brave move to do that switch in between [sessions].
“So, maybe this oversteer that we’re now seeing from the Ferrari is a result of that. But at these times, you’ve got to trust the data. But, honestly, the car doesn’t look like it has the same kind of balance as it did before.”
Hamilton and Leclerc were able to wrestle their cars to P2 and P3 in the SQ1 timesheets on Friday, but finished the first stage of Sprint Qualifying 0.118 and 0.164s slower than George Russell. The Mercedes driver also only needed one flying lap to set the overall pace in SQ1.
Mercedes boast a 0.621s lead over McLaren atop the SQ3 timesheets after Sprint Qualifying in China
Who was your star of Sprint Qualifying in Shanghai?
Ultimately, Mercedes racer Russell scored Sprint pole in China with a 1:31.520 in SQ3, while the best that Ferrari would secure was P4 through Hamilton with a 1:32.161 lap. Leclerc set a 1:32.528 lap of the Shanghai International Circuit to qualify P6 for the Sprint this Saturday.
It now remains to be seen whether Ferrari think they made a mistake and fit their Macarena rear wing on Hamilton and Leclerc’s cars for qualifying for the main Chinese GP on Saturday. Ferrari can make set-up changes after the F1 Sprint, should Hamilton and/or Leclerc wish to.
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