Lewis Hamilton has claimed that Formula 1 is “going in the wrong direction” with the FIA’s clampdown on flexible front wings from this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.
The teams have assembled in Barcelona with attention on how a new technical directive restricting front wing flexing under load will impact the competitive situation.
Having introduced more stringent rear wing tests in March, the FIA has updated the guidelines to reduce the tolerance on how much front wings can vertically deflect.
McLaren is believed to have been the team that exploited the previous rules the most, though Oscar Piastri has dismissed that it has been the MCL39’s “magic bullet”.
But although he acknowledged that it might help close up the pecking order, Hamilton has warned that it will make the current ground effect machines worse to drive.
“I don’t know why this came about if I’m being honest,” Hamilton told media including Motorsport Week.
“I’ve not really spent much time thinking about this, so it’s probably for someone else in the team.
“The flexi-wings, it was a positive when it came about. Some teams were quick to adapt it, some teams were very slow to adapt it. It’s been a positive.
“When I was at Mercedes and we got it last year around this time it was a positive for us. Some people had it earlier, some people had it later.
“It made this generation of car much nicer to drive. So, it’s going in the wrong direction, that’s for sure.
“But I guess it’s more about policing it, making sure that it’s better policed, I guess, moving forward. Hopefully, it brings everyone closer.”
Hamilton intrigued to see impact of rule change
Hamilton admitted he is intrigued to see how each side is impacted as he pinpointed that flexible wings had helped to ease the car’s inherent understeer in low speed.
“Ultimately the flexi wings was a band-aid for poorly designed technical regulations, I would say,” the Briton elaborated.
“Getting the set-up and creating devices and mechanisms on the car mechanically, I think only the engineers are able to do it.
“It’s still not that easy to get the load that you need on the front end in a low-speed, or just rely solely on mechanical grip.
“So far everyone’s been managing, some people better than others.
“This weekend is going to be interesting because we’ve got less flex with the front wing, so you have a lot of front end in the high-speed and less in the low.
“It’ll be interesting to see how that affects different teams. Some teams have flexed more than others, did a better job than others, so I really have no idea how that affects us all.”
Hamilton’s ex-Mercedes boss Toto Wolff indicated Ferrari has the most to gain under the revised guidelines as it had been the most “conservative” with flexible wings.
“I don’t know where it’s coming from, I don’t know what gives him that impression,” Hamilton retorted.
“I mean, I hope he’s right, but I have zero clue who it’s going to affect and who it’s not.”
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