Guenther Steiner, the former Haas team principal, has scoffed at Lewis Hamilton’s claim that the Spanish Grand Prix technical directive was a “waste of money.”

F1’s governing body the FIA took the latest step in its clampdown on so-called flexi wings in Spain as TD018 came into effect.

Guenther Steiner scoffs at Lewis Hamilton’s ‘waste of money’ claim

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

The measure was targeted at controlling the flexibility of front wings after a series of moves earlier this season to calm rear wing flexibility.

The technical directive was tipped to alter the shape of the F1 2025 season with Hamilton’s team boss at Ferrari, Fred Vasseur, describing the move as a potential “gamechanger.”

In the event, however, the technical directive appeared to have no noticeable impact on the competitive order with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris dominating to secure McLaren’s third one-two finish of the season.

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Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com after qualifying in Barcelona, Hamilton claimed that the technical directive – forcing every team to develop a new front wing for the Spanish Grand Prix – “changed nothing.”

He said: “What a waste of money.

“It’s just wasted everyone’s money; it changed nothing. Everyone’s wings still bend. It’s just half the bending.

“And everyone’s had to make new wings and spend more money to make them. It doesn’t make sense.”

Hamilton went on to add that the SF-25 car felt “pretty much exactly the same” in the simulator ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix with just “a little more oversteer in the high speed [corners].”

Responding to Hamilton’s comments, Steiner has claimed that the tweaks to the front wing were actually “very cheap” with “no money wasted” by the teams.

Appearing on the Red Flags podcast, he said: “This flexi wing is the same for everyone.

“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.”

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Steiner claimed that McLaren emerging unscathed from the Spanish Grand Prix unscathed was further evidence that the Woking team have a clearer development direction that their rivals.

He added: “McLaren knows exactly what they need to do with the car.

“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.”

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