Coulthard claims Ferrari’s ‘upside down’ wing is a 'distraction technique'
Ferrari's innovative rear wing design introduced during testing in Bahrain - Image: Race Pictures
Updated:
1 Comments
Henry Eccles is a freelance Formula 1 journalist for GPblog, covering breaking news, live race blogs, and features across the F1 calendar. Since joining in 2026, he has produced high-volume reporting on the sport’s biggest stories, alongside feature pieces including analysis and historical content.
David Coulthard has raised the idea that the innovative 'upside down' rear wing introduced by Ferrari during the Bahrain winter test was merely a "distraction technique" from the Scuderia.
On Day 2 of the final Bahrain test, Lewis Hamilton completed five laps sporting a rear wing that flipped 180° when the SF-26 activated Straight Mode, and by doing so, also sent the F1 paddock into something of a frenzy.
Haas' Ollie Bearman even said he thought the rear wing was broken when following Hamilton at Sakhir, commenting: "I was, f***, like what happened? I thought it was broken. Honestly it's super innovative and it looks pretty slick as well."
Is the Ferrari rear wing a 'complete distraction technique'?
Photo: Race Pictures
ADVERTISEMENT
For Coulthard, however, the radical rear wing could just be "a little side project" aimed at distracting rival teams and diverting their attention from more important upgrades.
On the Up to Speed podcast, 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."
Whether or not Ferrari use the rear wing at the season opener in Melbourne certainly remains to be seen, as team principal Fred Vasseur was coy when asked about the innovation in Bahrain.
ADVERTISEMENT
Vasseur told media, including GPblog: "I think everybody is doing innovation. Sometimes it’s visible, sometimes it’s not.
“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]."
Antonelli fears battery 'shock' in Melbourne 2026 opener
ADVERTISEMENT
Tipped to be among Ferrari's main rivals at Melbourne, Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli has previewed the opening race at Albert Park, explaining why the Silver Arrows and other teams can expect "quite a bit of a shock" in Australia, with the young Italian concerned over energy management.
Read also
Don’t miss GPblog in Google
Mark us as a preferred source and our articles will appear more often at the top of Top Stories.
Add as a preferred / source on Google
