Ferrari postpone introduction of new rear wing amid structural issues in FP1 | 2023 Bahrain GP. Ferrari abandon new rear wing after structural concerns.

Scuderia Ferrari will not continue for the moment with testing a new rear wing due to excessive flexing which was clearly visible in the first free practice session of the 2023 Formula 1 championship, as teams have started preparations for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir on Friday.

The Maranello team was expected to run several comparative tests with the SF-23 cars of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz this morning. Ferrari tried to run a new rear wing on the Monegasque’s single-seater in the first free practice session at the Bahrain International Circuit, as several teams continued their testing programme following the winter official pre-season testing session which took place last week at the same venue.

Unfortunately the most memorable – and unusual – sight from the opening practice session of 2023 was the rear wing of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari wobbling around. The wing was frequently seen to be moving from side to side and this of course led to questions regarding its stability.

Scuderia Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur confirmed ahead of the second free practice session that the wobbling rear wing spotted on the back of the car in Practice One won’t be seen again this weekend in Bahrain. The wing – which you can see in this video – was described as a “test item” by the French manager, who added:

“It was a test item that we are not able to do last week. We tried to run it this morning but, as you saw, it was not very positive. We won’t run the wing during the weekend, but it will be back soon.”

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Things didn’t go much better on the other side of the Maranello garage either, as Carlos Sainz was rooted to the bottom of the timing screens, with the Spanish driver suffering a spin at the double-left of Turns 9 and 10 partway during FP1.