David Coulthard: Is Ferrari’s rotating rear wing a clever tactic or genuine upgrade?
Ferrari introduced an innovative active aero rear wing in Bahrain testing
As pre-season mind games intensified, David Coulthard has questioned whether Ferrari’s radical rear wing is a masterstroke — or misdirection.
The question will be answered in the next two weeks as Fred Vasseur has said Ferrari will either race it in “Melbourne or for the next one” in China.
Ferrari’s rotating rear wing sparks intrigue ahead of Melbourne
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This season, Formula 1 has introduced new cars that are shorter, lighter, and feature active aerodynamics with movable front and rear wings.
The majority of teams have gone with a DRS-styled flap on their rear wings, but Ferrari trialled something new on the penultimate day of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Lewis Hamilton left the pits with the SF-26 sporting a highly innovative rotating rear wing. Rather than opening like the DRS of yesteryear, Ferrari’s design saw the upper elements of the rear wing rotate when the driver activated the new straight-line mode.
Although Hamilton only completed five laps with that rear wing before reverting to Ferrari’s baseline design, it caught the attention of rivals and pundits.
And that, says Coulthard, may have been Ferrari’s intention.
The 13-time grand prix winner told the Up to Speed podcast, “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.”
According to PlanetF1.com tech editor Matt Somerfield, rival teams have already considered a similar design for 2026 but shelved it.
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Somerfield wrote: “It’s understood other teams in the paddock considered its use, but opted not to spend time and resources on developing a solution that also had some perceived drawbacks.”
Haas driver Oliver Bearman confirmed this, revealing his team had a look at the design but felt it added too much weight to the car.
“Yeah, I saw it, and it looks cool, but it is heavy as well,” said the Ferrari-powered driver.
“I think everyone has considered it, including ourselves, but there is always a compromise to be made on these things.
“I was actually behind Lewis, and I saw it, and I was like: ‘What happened?’ I thought it was broken.
“But honestly, it is super innovative, and it looks pretty slick as well. So if it works on track, then they’ve done something right, that’s for sure.”
From Ferrari’s side, though, it looks as if the wing isn’t just a distraction. It will be used. The only question is when.
As Formula 1 prepares to head to Melbourne for next weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix, team boss Fred Vasseur says the team may run the wing at Albert Park, or it may wait until China.
“I think everybody is doing innovation. Sometimes it’s visible, sometimes it’s not,” he told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets.
“I’m sure that our competitors and everybody on the grid is doing exactly the same.
“It’s true that the last two bits that we bought on track were visible from outside, but it’s not a big difference with the others.
“I don’t know if it will be for Melbourne or for the next one [in China].”
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