Lewis Hamilton questions Ferrari decision at Chinese GP and admits he 'doesn't really know why'

Lewis Hamilton gave an honest assessment when asked about Ferrari's decision to remove the 'macarena' wing ahead of sprint qualifying in China.

George Russell was fastest once again for Mercedes with Kimi Antonelli completing another Mercedes one-two for the Chinese sprint race on Saturday.

Despite their standout performance in the season's first grand prix, it was another disappointing qualifying for Ferrari, who will line up fourth and sixth.

Hamilton will be the lead Ferrari for just the eighth time since joining the team last season, but the Brit was left slightly confused over one decision from the Scuderia.

Leading up to the weekend, there was huge talk about Ferrari fast-tracking their 'macarena' wing, that initially turned heads during Bahrain testing last month.

Lewis Hamilton 'doesn't know' why Ferrari U-turned on upgrade

Upon arrival in Shanghai on Thursday, Hamilton revealed the team 'got what they needed' in Bahrain when testing the wing that supposedly adds 5–8 kph in top speed.

However, the wing was nowhere to be seen during sprint qualifying, with Hamilton admitting he wasn't sure why the change was made.

“I don’t really know why we went back,” Hamilton said.

“I think we rushed to get it here and it was not supposed to be on the car until, I think it was, race four or five.

“So they did a great job to rush it here and we only had two of them."

Lewis Hamilton running the 'macarena' wing during practice (credit: getty)

The 41-year-old insisted that the concept hadn't been abandoned, and will return at a later race during the season.

He added: “We’ll work to try to bring it back when it’s ready."

Despite Hamilton playing dumb, Sky Sports pitlane reporter Ted Kravitz explained the team couldn't guarantee the reliability of the wing for a full grand prix.

"We were all excited about the Ferrari rear wing but it was inevitable they would take it off! They are not running it for the rest of the weekend," he told viewers.

"Not because they think it gives them 5kph more speed in a straight line but they are not sure it is reliable enough to make it through the rest of the weekend.

"A lot of load goes through it as it flips but they are not 100 per cent certain it will be reliable."