Ferrari reportedly removed its new halo mini wings after discussions with the FIA over its legality.
The new design ran in practise at the Chinese Grand Prix but was scrapped for Saturday’s qualifying session.
According to The Race the second upgrade was removed after talks with the FIA over concerns it was illegal.
Ferrari reportedly did not feel it was worth risking any post-race trouble if the governing body opposed it.
Talks are set to continue about getting definitive legality clarity on the winglets before Ferrari decides to bring them back at a future race.
The upgrade was quickly spotted during the first practice session, as two small winglets were visible on either side of the central halo mount.
Both Leclerc and Hamilton used the winglets during Saturday’s sprint race where they finished second and third, but they were removed ahead of qualifying for the Grand Prix.
A senior source at Ferrari reportedly confirmed there were concerns the winglets were “borderline” in the regulations.
The performance gain from the upgrades is also only understood to be a couple of hundredths of a second, meaning it was not worth the risk of a potential disqualification.
Ferrari and the FIA have been approached by The Sun for a comment.
Ferrari enjoyed a strong weekend in China where Lewis Hamilton bagged his first ever podium for the Italian team after finishing third, while Charles Leclerc came fourth.
There was a lot of talk surrounding the Scuderia bringing two performance upgrades to Shanghai including the “doner kebab” rear wing.
The wing flap turned heads in testing in Bahrain last month when it was spotted rotating a full 180 degrees to help reduce drag.
Ferrari chose not to run it at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, where Leclerc and Hamilton finished third and fourth.
It is used when the car is in straight-line mode, instead of the usual method of the top element of the rear wing flattening to reduce drag.
Ferrari confirmed they wouldn’t run the advanced rear wing after practise at the Chinese Grand Prix due to reliability issues.
– This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission.
