Scuderia Ferrari had a disappointing end to the Bahrain Grand Prix after a strong performance all weekend. The Ferrari drivers locked out the front row in qualification. This was the perfect result on Saturday after they topped all three practice sessions. Sebastian Vettel got the jump on pole-sitter Charles Leclerc into Turn 1 at the start of the race after Charles made a bad start and fell to third position, but the young Monégasque driver kept his cool and fought his way back into first position.
But with 15 laps to go, a power unit problem caused Charles Leclerc to lose five seconds a lap to his rivals, which meant that soon Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas passed the Monegasque driver. On a day when a comfortable Ferrari 1-2 was possible, the team ended with a third and fifth position. Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto reflects on the unfortunate events in Bahrain:
“It was a shame for Charles. He was in the lead for much of the race and showed that he was particularly comfortable here in Bahrain, also setting the race fastest lap. He deserved to win and it was only the reliability problem, which we must now investigate, which prevented him from doing so. That is something unacceptable from us and it shows how important it is to get every last detail right in order to win.” – he explained, later adding that Ferrari will not go down on engine power in the next race considering the reliability issue, despite rumors indicating that the Maranello team will have to turn down the engines: “We know it is a limited problem [Leclerc’s issue] and will be solved easily. We will not change the way the power unit is used.” – he explained.
Mattia Binotto also took Sebastian Vettel’s misfortunes in his stride and said: “With regards to Sebastian, these things can happen in racing when you are on the limit, therefore it is more important to consider the car, which today performed well. The team also did an excellent job, producing some really good pit stops. We head home with many positives on which to build for the rest of the season, such as our performance level and the way the team reacted. Clearly there are still various things that we have to learn and we will continue to work on them.” – the Ferrari Team Principal concluded.
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