Ferrari’s Bahrain performance: Charles Leclerc shines, Lewis Hamilton struggles, but comparison is not fair. Ferrari shows progress in Bahrain but still isn't a winning car.

We have often criticized Ferrari for this strange start to the World Championship. Of course, it couldn’t be justified for the unfortunate record of two disqualified cars after the Chinese GP for technical irregularities.

No one has yet provided us with valid reasons to understand why a team with Ferrari’s tradition, economic power, and technological prowess can’t show up with a winning car, and after four races, we are still here trying to console ourselves with some palliative measures.

However, the Ferrari seen in Bahrain, where Oscar Piastri dominated once again, didn’t entirely disappoint us. The challenge was tough, on an asphalt that wasn’t exactly forgiving like Japan’s, and with the uncertainty of having to use multiple Pirelli tire compounds during the race. But despite these difficulties, Ferrari delivered its best qualifying of 2025, and in the race, it showed a performance we could even call excellent, up to about ten laps before the finish.

True, in Sakhir they raced 57 laps, not 47, but for at least four-fifths of the race, Ferrari didn’t suffer huge gaps from McLaren: it was there, visible, and gave us emotions.

But this was only thanks to Charles Leclerc, as the Ferrari in Bahrain was his. His overtakes were beautiful and decisive, his pace with both medium and hard tires was solid, and his determination to go beyond the obstacle remained until the last meter. It was a pleasure to watch him so determined with a car that wasn’t a frontrunner, even though there was some progress this time. At least, that’s how we perceived it.

Charles Leclerc, however, dramatically contradicted this at the end of the race with a blunt statement: “It’s disappointing to give everything and finish fourth: doing my best wasn’t enough.”

His look was bruised, his words bitter, and there was a lot left unsaid after over a year of hearing that Lewis Hamilton would be the team’s benchmark. But the seven-time world champion missed the mark, delivering a lackluster, colorless race because, with the SF25, he couldn’t perform the way he wanted to, even stating that he hadn’t expected his performances to be like this. On Saturday, he even apologized to the fans – and it wasn’t the first time – for a disastrous ninth place in qualifying.

We can’t believe it’s just an adaptation problem for him. The truth is that maybe Hamilton didn’t expect Charles Leclerc to be so relentlessly strong and fast. Right now, the comparison is unfair, and what’s happening is clear to everyone. Lewis Hamilton was sure he would have a Ferrari ready to fight for the win right away, not for the lower positions. When the car was there, like in the Shanghai Sprint race, he got off the line in the lead and won, putting everyone in line behind him.

In other words, it’s unthinkable to question Lewis Hamilton’s qualities, but the mind always plays a crucial role in sports dynamics. We are sure that with a winning Ferrari, the seven-time Formula 1 world champion will return to winning form. In the meantime, he must resign himself to waiting. Just like we do, just like Ferrari fans have done for many years, without clear signs of a change in trend.