‘Waste of money’ - Lewis Hamilton scolds F1’s flexi-wing clampdown

Lewis Hamilton believes F1’s fresh flexi-wing clampdown was a “waste of money” after appearing to make no difference at the Spanish Grand Prix.

There was talk that the introduction of more stringent load tests on front wing flexing from this weekend’s race at Barcelona could be a ‘gamechanger’ to F1’s competitive order in 2025, but it doesn’t seem to have pegged back McLaren.

Oscar Piastri beat teammate and title rival Lando Norris to pole position as McLaren convincingly locked out the front row of the grid at Barcelona, indicating that the rule change had no impact on their performance.

Speaking after he qualified fifth, half a second down on the McLarens, Hamilton was critical of the FIA’s clampdown.

“The balance is definitely not as nice as what we had before. It hasn't made any [difference to the leaders],” the seven-time world champion said.

“What a waste of money, it's just wasted everyone's money. It's literally changed nothing. Everyone's bent wings still bend, it is just half the bending, and everyone's had to make new wings, and spend more money to make these. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Hamilton went on to say that the sport “should be giving that money to charity.”

Asked if he was expecting to see a major change to the pecking order, Hamilton replied: “No I didn’t.

“I drove it on the simulator and it was pretty much exactly the same, a little more oversteer in the high-speed.”

Ferrari half a second behind ‘untouchable’ McLaren

Hamilton scored his best result on a Saturday for Ferrari and beat teammate Charles Leclerc for only the second time in a grand prix qualifying session this year in Spain.

The 40-year-old Briton admitted that McLaren are “untouchable” for Ferrari this season.

“Yeah [they’re untouchable]. It’s an amazing job they’ve done,” he added.

“[To] me it’s half a second, but to the guys in front it is three tenths. It’s not an insurmountable amount that you could catch up, but for example, a lot of work, months, went into developing and getting a tenth of performance.

“We don’t have half a second coming, that’s for sure, which is what I would need to topple them.”

Hamilton said he is targeting his first Ferrari podium in a grand prix on Sunday.

"I'm looking forward to it. I got a bit of a long run yesterday. It will be close between everybody. It's amazing how close everybody is. Half a tenth can put you from sixth to 11th,” he told Sky Sports F1.

"The long run will be challenging for everybody. Most people have softs and one medium. Charles and a couple others have two mediums.

"Which tyres are the best? Which strategy is the best? The key will be getting a good start. My goal is to try and get a podium. I've not had one for God knows how long."