Ferrari reach major decision over 'upside down' rear wing in Mercedes pursuit

The Chinese Grand Prix, just one week after the season-opener in Australia, will play a crucial role in assessing the relative strength of each F1 team. 

This is especially true for the battle of supremacy at the front between Mercedes and Ferrari, where the margin separating George Russell's pole-sitting W17 from Charles Leclerc's P4 SF-26 in qualifying was around 0.8s. 

But the balance of power between the two in the race was not as clear-cut, owing to the strategies of each team, although it still swings towards Mercedes. The Shanghai race fuels a strong curiosity about whether Ferrari can launch a counterattack. 

After the opener in Melbourne, Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur stated that there would be aerodynamic updates to the car in China, which immediately sparked rumours that the team could be about to bring its 'upside-down' rear wing to the race, with its 270-degree rotating flap - dubbed the 'macarena' wing in the paddock.

As we explained during testing, when the wing broke cover on Lewis Hamilton's car for five laps, the advantage of a wing like this is that it provides a significant reduction in drag on the straights, which, combined with the aerodynamic lift created, induces a stronger diffuser stall. 

In Bahrain, it was rumoured that the advantage in terms of speed at the end of the straight was between 5-8kph, which could be a significant advantage, especially on the 1.2km long back straight in Shanghai into Turn 14.

RacingNews365's sources indicate that developments for the China race are on their way to Shanghai as cabin baggage carried on board by engineers after being prepared on a very tight timeline at Maranello, with Ferrari seeking to deploy all possible resources to maximise its performance at the sprint weekend. 

The pursuit of Mercedes has already been planned for this race, to prevent the Brackley team from gaining an even stronger advantage, with the decision to keep Toto Wolff's team under pressure also a deliberate strategy, but also to partially compensate for the advantage Mercedes has with its power unit energy management.

In short, the championship has only just begun, but the strategy of the teams, and Ferrari's in particular, is to be looking ahead.