Lewis Hamilton was able to joke about Ferrari’s costly tyre gamble after recovering to the podium at Sepang, although the seven-time world champion admitted there was still frustration because the team had the potential to challenge Max Verstappen for victory. After starting the race on the wrong tyres and enduring an extraordinary pre-race problem, the final result was far better than the Ferrari driver had expected.
The 2026 Bahrain-Malaysia Grand Prix provided another example of the resilience that has defined much of Lewis Hamilton’s Formula 1 career, fitting the “Still I Rise” mantra and tattoo that have long been particularly meaningful to the Ferrari driver.
Lewis Hamilton recovers from chaotic Sepang start
During the first starting procedure, Lewis Hamilton was forced to restart his SF-26 from a standstill after the rest of the field had already disappeared into the distance. The difficulties then continued at the start of the race when Ferrari found itself on the wrong tyres, with slicks fitted while conditions remained unsuitable.
It was another major strategic complication in an already unpredictable Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang, where changing conditions made tyre selection particularly difficult.
Despite everything, the way the race unfolded eventually brought Lewis Hamilton onto the podium, helped by the technical failure that forced George Russell out of the Grand Prix. It was, overall, a deserved result for the Ferrari driver, but one that still left a sense of disappointment because the SF-26 appeared to have enough potential to fight Max Verstappen for the victory.
Hamilton jokes about Ferrari’s tyre gamble
Speaking in the post-race press conference, Lewis Hamilton used humour when reflecting on Ferrari’s tactical decision.
“What did I learn today? I will never go to the casino with members of the team,” Lewis Hamilton said.
Despite the joke, the Ferrari driver immediately made clear that the team would take the mistake seriously and learn from what had happened.
“We will definitely learn from what happened today. We are all giving everything, without exception. On Saturday, the engineers and I stayed up until 11:30 trying to prepare as well as possible for a race in which we had the chance to fight Max Verstappen.”
The tyre decision ultimately became one of the decisive elements of Ferrari’s race, with compound choices and stint trends throughout the weekend also available through the F1 Tyre & Stint Analysis.
Ferrari knows where improvements are needed
Lewis Hamilton stressed that Ferrari was not attempting to ignore the weaknesses exposed by the Sepang race. Despite recovering to the podium, he acknowledged that there were still areas where the team needed to improve if it wanted to convert its performance potential into stronger results.
“We know there are areas where we need to improve. We are not burying our heads in the sand. We will address them,” Lewis Hamilton concluded.
Leave a Reply