Ferrari rivals hunt for detailed photos of ‘revolutionary’ rear wing on Lewis Hamilton’s car

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Ferrari’s rivals are scrambling to gather as much material as they can on the Italian team’s ‘upside-down’ rear wing, according to a report. The wing was the headline innovation of pre-season testing in Bahrain.

Lewis Hamilton only showcased the remarkable, rotating wing for a few laps on the second morning of the final test, but that short glimpse was enough to create a buzz throughout the entire paddock.

Williams team boss James Vowles described it as ‘an interesting direction of travel’ and admitted that they hadn’t considered taking this approach to active aero.

When following Hamilton on track, Haas driver Oliver Bearman initially thought the Ferrari wing was ‘broken’, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri asked Charles Leclerc if he was going to start ‘flying’ next.

Ferrari competitors want to work out their rear-wing secrets

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, the Ferrari rear wing has become an ‘obsession’ for their competitors. They have been ‘hunting’ for ‘photos and details’ to work out the ‘secrets’ of the ‘revolutionary’ innovation.

The initial data suggested that Hamilton gained up to 10kph with the new concept, although the sample size was small.

While Ferrari have shelved the wing for the moment – Melbourne is a very different circuit to Bahrain – it could appear on the car again in China, which features one of the longest straights on the calendar.

There’s also a school of thought that Ferrari could be prioritising energy management improvements rather than straight-line speed with the upgrade.

Team principal Fred Vasseur asked the aero department, led by Diego Tondi, to be bold with the 2026 car, and they have certainly heeded that instruction based on testing.

Could Ferrari’s long-standing development weakness cost them 2026 title?

Also at the rear of the car, Ferrari unveiled a new exhaust wing in Sakhir, which once again set them apart from other teams.

The Ferrari SF-26 needed ‘several redesigns’ to comply with the FIA regulations, but Vasseur will clearly be pleased with that aggressive approach.

Development rates should be higher than ever across the grid this year at the start of the rules cycle. Most estimates put Ferrari in the top two after testing, just behind Mercedes, but their starting package will fall behind rapidly if it isn’t improved.

As Gazzetta note, in-season development has been ‘a historic shortcoming’ for Ferrari, perhaps most notably in 2022 when Charles Leclerc’s title challenge faded. It’s no exaggeration to say that the Scuderia’s title ambitions hinge on addressing that weakness.