F1 fans excited as Ferrari ship the ‘coolest innovation’ of 2026 to the Chinese Grand Prix

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Ferrari will take plenty of confidence from the Australian Grand Prix, but attention has already turned to the next race in Shanghai.

The Chinese Grand Prix was a turning point in the season for Ferrari last year, despite being the second race on the calendar.

Lewis Hamilton filled the tifosi with hope when he won the Sprint Race, before both drivers were disqualified from Sunday’s Grand Prix.

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Jolyon Palmer has predicted Ferrari to do well in China again this year, particularly because of their rapid starts in Australia and how the shortened Sprint Race will play in their favour as a result.

Team principal Fred Vasseur will be feeling more confident than 12 months ago, and Ferrari have sent for the ‘Macarena’ wing as he calls it to join them in Shanghai this weekend.

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F1 fans react as Ferrari ship ‘Macarena’ wing to the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix

As reported by FormulaPassion and other Italian sites, it’s believed that the ‘Macarena’ wing could make its competitive debut this weekend.

Ferrari stunned the paddock with their flipping wing during testing, and while it only featured on Hamilton’s car for a few laps, it certainly got people talking.

The idea is that it can create more drag in the moments after it returns to its original position, as it momentarily sits perpendicular to the track.

Fans took to Reddit to react to the news that the innovative wing could be on its way to Shanghai, with one comment suggesting: ‘I think with the impending cancellation of the two races, they probably want to give the wing a test before they go dark for a whole month.’

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Another comment said: ‘I really hope that wing is a success and that it doesn’t get banned. Easily the coolest innovation I’ve seen so far in these regs.’

‘Sprint weekend and getting a new wing fast-forwarded a month and a half. Not sure how this is gonna work for us, but this is spec 1 from Bahrain,’ replied another F1 fan.

‘This isn’t last season, where everyone was super close. Even if it doesn’t go well, they’ll most likely still be comfortably second fastest,’ concluded one fan who has nailed why this season should give the top teams more license to be creative, especially at the start of the year.

One reply read: ‘It makes sense, if a bit risky. This year is looking like it’s the best opportunity for them to win a championship since early 2022, so they might as well try and make as many performance gains as possible.’

‘I hope it’s part of the permanent aero package and not simply for circuits with long straights,’ suggested another reply, while another important issue was raised by one reader, who said, ‘Not sure this is the best decision when there’s only one hour of practice this weekend, but could be interesting.’

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Ferrari strategy calls will be under more scrutiny than any update at the Chinese Grand Prix

Considering Ferrari barely snuck into the points in Melbourne in 2025, this season’s race has immediately put the Scuderia on the front foot for the first time in years.

However, the biggest issue that Ferrari face is nailing their strategy, with many people criticising the team for not pitting either of their drivers under the first virtual safety car.

Ferrari ‘got away with’ not using the optimum strategy in Australia, and a mistake like that in China could prove to be far more costly.

However, Vasseur doesn’t believe that Ferrari made a mistake, and said after the race in Melbourne: “We targeted the optimum for us, and the optimum was to extend.

“Now we are also a bit surprised. I think Mercedes also, with the life of the tyres, I think we could have done 300 laps today.

“But it is like it is. I think they still had, during the race, a delta of performance with us. The issue is the VSC, the call, and just the pure pace.”