Hamilton Criticizes FIA Measure on Front Wings in F1
Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1 driver, has called the recent restriction imposed by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) on the flexibility of the front wings a “waste of money.” These statements were made after observing that the advantage of McLaren, the leading team in the competition, was not affected by the new regulations.
Before the Spanish Grand Prix, it was speculated that the FIA directive, which regulates the permitted flex in the front wings, could reduce or even eliminate the gap between McLaren and the rest of the teams. In response to this regulation, the teams developed new front wings to implement in the Barcelona race.
However, the results did not show significant changes. Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, McLaren drivers, secured the front row of the starting grid, demonstrating superior performance during qualifying.
What a waste of money? Literally nothing has changed. All the wings are still bending, just half as much, and everyone has had to make new wings and spend more money to make them. It makes no sense.
Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton, visibly frustrated, added that the money invested in this modification “should be donated to charity.” The seven-time world champion had anticipated that the changes would be minimal, based on Ferrari’s simulations.
Hamilton qualified in fifth position, half a second behind Piastri’s pole time. The Ferrari driver ruled out the possibility of any team catching up to McLaren in the short term.
When asked if McLaren is “almost untouchable”, Hamilton replied: “Yes, yes. They’ve done an incredible job. For me it’s half a second, but for those ahead it’s three tenths. It’s not an insurmountable amount that can be achieved, but, for example, a lot of work, months, was invested in developing and obtaining a tenth of performance. We don’t have half a second to come, that’s for sure, which is what I would need to take them down”.
Hamilton’s performance marked the second time this year that he outperformed his Ferrari teammate, Charles Leclerc, who will start from seventh position.
