Lewis Hamilton blasts FIA rule change as 'waste of money' in rant after Spanish GP qualifying

Lewis Hamilton has criticised the FIA over the rule change they have introduced for the Spanish Grand Prix onwards.

Hamilton qualified fifth on Saturday in Barcelona, meaning he will start ahead of Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc for the first time this season.

The Brit was provisionally in P3 in the third session after setting his final lap, but both Max Verstappen and George Russell went quicker to push him down the grid.

In first and second places were the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who are continuing their dominance in 2025.

McLaren have won seven of the nine races so far this season, with Verstappen taking the win in the other two for Red Bull.

A new technical directive was brought in from Barcelona onwards surrounding front wings, with some speculating that the changes could shake up the pecking order at the front of the grid.

The directive means that the amount of front wing flexibility under load has been further restricted.

The flap areas of the wing must now deflect under load by no more than 10mm - down from 15mm.

As a result, teams have had to design new front wings to conform - but the change appears to have made little to no difference.

And Hamilton made his feelings clear on the new directive in an interview after qualifying at the Circuit de Catalunya.

He stated (via F1 journalist Adam Cooper): "What a waste of money. It's just wasted everyone's money.

Image: Twitter/@adamcooperf1

"It's literally 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 these."

On qualifying itself, the Brit said that he hoped for a podium in Spain after strong pace from the Ferrari on Saturday.

"The car is moving, set up wise, this weekend in the right direction.

"We had some problems through some of the practice sessions, so to recover and get the car in a good place, I'm relatively happy. I'm going to try and get on the podium for once."