The introduction of new front wing flexibility limits, which came into effect this race weekend in Barcelona, did not go down well with Lewis Hamilton. The Ferrari driver called them “a waste of money. better to donate it to charity” after seeing McLaren’s advantage remain intact. It had been speculated that a new FIA directive would reduce or even eliminate McLaren’s edge over the others. Instead, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris locked out the front row, having looked untouchable throughout qualifying, eventually conquering the pole position and the second spot of the front grid.

“It was just money wasted for everyone”, commented Hamilton after the session. “Nothing’s changed. Everyone’s wings still flex — they only reach halfway through the flex — and everyone had to build new wings and spend money to make them. It makes no sense. It would’ve been better to give that money to charity.”

Hamilton then returned to the topic: “It’s not an insurmountable limit, it can be recovered from, but  it took months of work to develop the car and gain a tenth in performance. We don’t have half a second coming, that’s for sure — and that’s what I would need to catch up to the McLarens.”

Even before the race weekend, the Brit had said he hadn’t noticed any improvement compared to his rivals: “What I can tell you is that on the simulator, I didn’t notice any particular difference. Overall, we’ll have to adapt well, just like we did back when teams started using flexible wings.”

On Friday in the team radio,  Lewis summed up his feelings with a bleak radio message that was, if anything, an understatement: “The car is undriveable.”  On Saturday he qualified 5th with Charles Leclerc in P7.

“I knew it was going to be a tough qualifying”, declared Hamilton. We only had four fresh sets of Soft tyres for this session, compared to the five that many of our rivals had, but it was a choice we made knowingly. Regarding the race, starting from seventh position, we can fight. Our race pace looks good and we have a different tyre selection compared to those starting around us — we’ll see if our strategy pays off.”

Photo: Courtesy of Scuderia Ferrari