Ferrari causes F1 test surprise with novel ‘upside down’ rear wing
Ferrari has turned heads during the second Bahrain F1 pre-season test.
Ferrari caused a stir on the penultimate day of F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain by debuting an innovative ‘upside down’ rear wing.
The novel rear wing appeared on Lewis Hamilton’s SF-26 on Thursday morning and immediately grabbed attention as it not only opened on the straight but flips around so it is upside down in an effort to minimise drag.
Ferrari’s new innovation was first spotted by F1 technical expert Sam Collins during the first hour of running in Sakhir.
“Looking at Lewis Hamilton coming down the main straight, pay attention to the rear-wing on the Ferrari SF-26,” Collins said during Sky Sports F1’s broadcast.
“We are talking about the upper element of the rear wing and you can see it very clearly just sitting on top. Watch it go back into corner mode and this is pretty dramatic. The wing has fully rotated around. I thought at first that was a technical failure, [but] it wasn’t.
“Ferrari have discovered something quite clever in the regulations, I feel. It doesn’t specify that the wing has to be mounted the right way up when active aero is deployed.
“That means they can run the wing upside down as the car goes down the straight. An upside down aircraft-wing confirmation should reduce aerodynamic drag, because it’s even generating a bit of lift.
“Then they’ve come up with a mechanism to allow it to rotate all the way around. That is something nobody else in F1 has tried yet. I think Ferrari just tried it very briefly right at the very start of the day and hoped nobody else would notice.”
Ferrari’s other F1 testing surprise
Ferrari also surprised the F1 paddock on the opening day of the second Bahrain test by presenting a brand new aerodynamic feature.
A small wing was spotted in front of the SF-26’s exhaust pipe when Charles Leclerc hit the track on Wednesday morning.
The solution, which would not be possible for rivals to copy without redesigning the entire rear end of their respective cars, could hand Ferrari a potential advantage.
It has not been the smoothest start to the penultimate day of pre-season testing for Ferrari however, with Hamilton restricted to just five laps and stuck in the garage at the time of writing.
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