Lewis Hamilton puzzled by Ferrari decision over 'Macarena' rear wing

Lewis Hamilton has explained his puzzlement at Ferrari's decision to remove its 'Macarena' rear wing ahead of Chinese Grand Prix Sprint qualifying.

The rear wing, which opens and closes by rotating 270 degrees, was first unveiled during Bahrain pre-season testing, but was not on either Ferrari car at the Australian Grand Prix. 

The team did deploy the design across both Hamilton and Charles Leclerc's machines in the sole practice session in Shanghai, but reverted to its more traditional design for Sprint Qualifying itself.

In the event, Hamilton qualified in fourth place and Leclerc in sixth, with the two in a gaggle with the McLarens of Lando Norris in third and Oscar Piastri in fifth, but well behind the front-row lockout Mercedes pair of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. 

Hamilton's fastest time was a 1:32.161, compared to Russell's 1:31.520 pole lap, a difference of 0.641s.

Reflecting, Hamilton explained that he was not immediately aware of why Ferrari had ditched the wing for Sprint Qualifying, having had no opportunity to test its regular wing design on the Shanghai circuit. 

"I don't really know why we went back on it," Hamilton explained.

"We rushed it to get it here, and it was not supposed to be on the car until like race four or five or something like that.

"So [the team] did a great job to rush it here, and we only had two of them, but maybe it was a bit premature.

"So we took it off the car, it was still great, and we'll work to try and bring it back when it is ready."