David Coulthard wonders if Ferrari’s flipping rear wing was a ‘distraction’ to trick rival teams

Follow us on Google Discover

Ferrari unveiled a radical rear wing design that David Coulthard believes could have been a ‘distraction technique’.

On the fifth day of the Formula 1 Bahrain test, Ferrari stole the headlines as they unveiled a new rear wing which rotated 180°.

Even though Lewis Hamilton’s stint with the rotating wing on his Ferrari was short, it has been suggested that he gained 8-10km/h on the straights.

Although it helped generate more speed, it was believed that the new concept rear wing that they were testing was not meant to help with speed, but instead was supposed to save a significant amount of energy.

David Coulthard believes Ferrari used it to ‘distract’ rival teams

On the Up To Speed podcast, David Coulthard discussed the Bahrain test and the rear wing that was introduced by Ferrari in the second week.

The former Formula 1 driver was unsure whether it was a real project Ferrari had been working on, or whether they used it to try and ‘distract’ their rivals and make them investigate the concept.

If other constructors wanted to look into the rotating wing that Ferrari demonstrated, then it would make them waste resources and time ahead of the start of the season in Australia.

Coulthard said, “It could be a complete distraction technique; they have had this as a little side project, and now other teams will go and spend time looking at whether it works in CFD, which is the Computational Fluid Dynamics.

“Putting a design team in to look at it, which then means they are not utilising those resources to look at their own cars.”

Ferrari set the fastest overall lap time at both pre-season tests for the first time since 2019!

What do you believe is possible for Ferrari in 2026?

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

Ferrari could have found a ‘silver bullet’ with their rear wing

There have been reports that, after its brief appearance at the Bahrain test, Ferrari will not run the 180° wing during the 2026 season and will opt to leave it on the shelf.

However, there have been suggestions from the likes of Will Buxton that the radical rear wing could be a ‘silver bullet’ for Ferrari this year.

It would take rival constructors time to replicate the rear wing that Ferrari have developed, as the majority of teams repurposed the old DRS system, with Audi and Alpine developing front-mounted hinges.

But it is believed that Ferrari will now revert to the rear wing that they used at the Barcelona shakedown test and the other five days of the Bahrain test.