LEWIS HAMILTON slammed the “waste of money” flexi-wing rule change after qualifying in Barcelona.
The seven-time world champion out-qualified teammate Charles Leclerc for only the second time this season to take fifth in Barcelona.
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It came after Oscar Piastri pipped McLaren teammate Lando Norris to pole position after a blistering lap.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third fastest ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell.
All the talk in Spain this week has been about the potential impact of the FIA’s clampdown on the flexing of front wings.
In January the sport’s governing body released a technical directive for more stringent flexibility tests on front wings that would be introduced in Barcelona.
The FIA hopes this might close up the pecking order on the grid, particularly those chasing high-flying McLaren.
But fuming Hamilton said: “The balance is definitely not as nice as what we had before. It hasn’t made any [difference to the leaders].
“What a waste of money, it’s just wasted everyone’s money. It’s literally changed nothing.
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“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 sense.
“We should be giving it to charity.”
McLaren bagged their first front row lock out in Barcelona since 1998 with Piastri and Norris looking red hot.
When asked if McLaren are untouchable, Hamilton replied: “Yeah. It’s an amazing job they’ve done. 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.”
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Hamilton is still gunning for a first podium of the season, adding: “My target is to try and get to the podium. I haven’t been on the podium for a long time.
“The car is so much different to what I drove previous years. So through the weekend, I’m having to adapt this new driving style, which is horrible.”
Piastri has vowed to not let the title scrap between him and Norris get between him, but things could all go pear shaped in sunny Spain.
Just three points separate the two McLaren team-mates in the drivers’ standings following Norris’ win at Monaco last weekend with Piastri still ahead.
Norris seems to be feeling the pressure of the title race more though as he produced a scrappy final lap and rued “too many mistakes” in the final qualifying session.
The two McLarens battled to and fro in Q3 with Norris coming out trumps after the first run to take provincial pole before Piastri’s moment of magic.
There had been drama earlier on as fuming Williams driver Alex Albon slammed “dirty, dirty” Haas drivers who he felt drove purposely slow as he was knocked out in Q2.
Red Bull’s No2 driver conundrum continued with Yuki Tsunoda’s situation going from bad to worse as he suffered a nightmare last place position in qualifying.
It was the third race in a row where he was out-qualified by both drivers from Red Bull’s junior team Racing Bulls.
Meanwhile Carlos Sainz was left miserable as he was booted out in Q1 for Williams at his home Grand Prix.
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