Ferrari slated for harmful upgrade strategy

Former Aston Martin strategist Bernie Collins has criticised Ferrari for its upgrade strategy surrounding its new 'Macarena' rear wing.

The wing, which flips upside down, was brought to the Shanghai International Circuit at the last minute for this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc both used the wing in the event's only practice session, with it being the first sprint weekend of the year.

However, before sprint qualifying, Ferrari reverted to its Melbourne-spec rear wing, meaning it entered the session without any data on how best to set it up for Shanghai.

Leclerc had major deployment issues in the final part of sprint qualifying, which significantly impacted the Monegasque, while Hamilton insisted the change of rear wing made no difference.

Despite this, Collins questioned just how significant it was that Ferrari entered sprint qualifying without any track-specific data on the rear wing it chose to run.

Discussing one car deploying energy better than the other creating a massive lap time difference, Collins said on Sky F1: "Yeah, I think so. And I think Charles Leclerc complained explicitly on the radio, saying that he lost the deployment on that flying lap at the end of the session. 

"And although Lewis said that the car still felt mega, the [different] wing didn't seem to make any difference. How detrimental is it? 

"We've only got one practice session here, and to run a wing that you're then not prepared to take into the rest of the weekend doesn't seem like the optimum way to start your qualifying preparation."

Why Ferrari did not run both rear wings in practice has confused Collins, who is insistent it would have improved the set up of the car going into sprint qualifying.

Collins added: "You could have started with one wing, then changed to the other halfway through [the session]. At least you've got some running on the other wing to get the car set up.

"Get the balance correct, the deployment correct. Because as you change downforce and drag and all of these things, you're changing the deployment out of every straight."