Charles Leclerc recovered from last place to finish fourth in the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang, but the Ferrari driver left Malaysia with mixed feelings after a race that changed dramatically from one phase to the next. An early gamble on Soft slick tyres sent him to the back of the field, before retirements and Safety Car periods helped create the conditions for an unexpected recovery.
The result was impressive considering how badly the race had started, but Charles Leclerc also admitted that Ferrari still lacked the performance required to challenge the fastest cars consistently. Looking ahead to Singapore, the Monegasque believes the team will eventually need upgrades after losing ground to Red Bull and Mercedes over recent races.
Charles Leclerc recovers from last after Ferrari’s slick tyre gamble
The decision to start on Soft dry-weather tyres while the Sepang circuit was still very wet proved extremely costly. Charles Leclerc dropped all the way to last place and was eventually forced to reverse the decision by returning to the pits and fitting Intermediate tyres.
From that point, the recovery began. Retirements and several Safety Car periods helped reshape the race, including the intervention on lap 46 following Alexander Albon’s retirement and a final Safety Car that came after George Russell retired. That final restart gave Charles Leclerc an opportunity to attack Isack Hadjar, and he converted it into fourth place at the finish.
The result added another unusual chapter to a highly unpredictable Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. Readers can follow Charles Leclerc’s season and Ferrari performances through our dedicated Charles Leclerc coverage.
Charles Leclerc describes a Bahrain GP of two halves
Speaking to Sky Sport F1 after the race, Charles Leclerc described the Grand Prix as a story of two completely different halves.
“Honestly, in the first part of the race everything that could go wrong went wrong, while in the second part everything that could go well went our way. At the end of the day, I prefer it to have happened this way rather than the other way around.”
Despite the recovery to fourth, Charles Leclerc did not believe Ferrari had the speed to challenge the cars ahead in a conventional race. In his assessment, third and fourth would probably have represented the maximum realistic outcome for the Scuderia.
“That means today we are P4 and, honestly, I think in a normal race we would have finished P3 and P4. The drivers ahead were simply too fast for us. I think Lewis had good pace; I struggled a lot with the car, and we will analyse why.”
Charles Leclerc explained that his difficulties had not been present throughout the weekend. His feeling with the SF-26 had initially been positive before performance began to deteriorate during qualifying.
“On Friday I had a good feeling, and I had it up until Q2 as well. Then in Q3 I started losing ground and today, in the race, it was very difficult.”
Charles Leclerc sceptical about Ferrari’s Singapore chances
Attention now turns immediately to Singapore, the next round on the 2026 Formula 1 calendar, but Charles Leclerc was cautious when assessing Ferrari’s chances of fighting at the front.
“I hope we can do well in Singapore, but ultimately I think that in the last two or three races we have faced different track characteristics and, clearly, the trend is that we are losing a little performance compared with Red Bull and Mercedes.”
The Ferrari driver therefore believes further development will eventually be required if the team wants to reverse the recent trend.
“So sooner or later we will have to bring some upgrades: we don’t exactly have the level of performance we would like.”
The concern is particularly significant because the recent circuits have presented different characteristics, yet Charles Leclerc still sees the same relative trend against Ferrari’s main competitors. The evolving competitive picture can also be explored through the ScuderiaFans Ferrari vs F1 Rivals statistics.
Fourth place at Sepang therefore represented a strong recovery from an extremely difficult opening phase, but it did not remove the larger questions surrounding Ferrari’s current performance. Charles Leclerc leaves Malaysia with valuable points, yet also with a clear belief that the Scuderia must find more speed if it wants to fight Red Bull and Mercedes more consistently in the races ahead.
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