Guenther Steiner disagrees with Lewis Hamilton over a hot topic in F1

Guenther Steiner has refuted Lewis Hamilton’s suggestion that the new flexi-wing directive in Formula 1 was a “waste of money”, saying it was rather “cheap” for teams to comply with the stricter tests.

The FIA began clamping down further on moving aero parts from this month’s Spanish Grand Prix, with all cars now having to pass tougher static load tests for front wing flexing.

All teams had to design new front wings according to the updated regulations and were given sufficient time to do so, having been informed of the change back in January.

Following the Barcelona race, seven-time F1 champion Hamilton was quick to criticise the technical directive, arguing that it was nothing more than “waste of money” as “everyone's bent wings still bend, it is just half the bending.”

He added that his Ferrari felt “pretty much exactly the same” to stress that the new front wing had limited impact on performance or handling.

Now, former Haas F1 boss Guenther Steiner has counteracted Hamilton’s claim, suggesting that teams did not have to spend anywhere as much money as the Briton thinks.

“This flexi wing is the same for everyone,” Steiner said on the Red Flags podcast.

“Lewis came out with the comment that all this money was wasted on doing this and stuff like this – there was no money wasted.

“Everybody went in to develop this one, because you have to make sure that your wing is not flexing.

“I read somewhere that McLaren just put an additional bracket on the wing so it doesn’t bend [as] much anymore.

“So it was a very cheap fix to get rid of this flexi wing and part of it was the complaining of the other teams.

“They complained, but what did they gain? Nothing. They gave the McLaren more advantage.”

Although there was speculation that the directive might shake up the competitive order, McLaren remained dominant in Spain, with Oscar Piastri leading another 1-2 for the Woking squad ahead of teammate Lando Norris.

For Steiner, McLaren’s ability to reclaim any advantage lost from the front wing redesign shows just how strong its engineering department is.

“McLaren knows exactly what they need to do with the car,” he said.

“If they lose the flexi wing or the effect the flexi wing gives them, they go to the wind tunnel and try to replicate what they had to get the same balance on the car again.

“And maybe you cannot get 100 per cent there, but you get 99.8 per cent there.”