Lewis Hamilton claims Ferrari error cost him Bahrain Grand Prix victory chance

Lewis Hamilton has claimed that he could have won Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia were it not for Ferrari's strategy blunder at the start of the race.

It was a chaotic afternoon at Sepang International Circuit, where heavy rainfall and lightning saw the start of the race delayed.

Eventually, grand prix action looked set to get underway after a 40-minute wait, but after issues for Hamilton and others on the formation lap, the race start was suspended, and cars returned to the pit lane.

This meant that by the time we got around to the actual race start, the track conditions had changed greatly, so much so that Hamilton and his team opted for dry, soft tyres, as opposed to intermediates.

Hamilton and Ferrari were not the only ones, of course, with eight drivers in total taking the gamble, but they all quickly found out that it was the wrong strategy. In the middle sector of the first racing lap alone, Hamilton lost 12 seconds to race leader Kimi Antonelli, and by lap nine, he was sitting in P18 and over one minute and 20 seconds behind the Italian.

F1 HEADLINES: Fans slam Bahrain Grand Prix 's***show' as FIA forced into late grid change in Malaysia

Lewis Hamilton: I could have won Bahrain GP

Hamilton's day (and frankly, all of the other runners on dry tyres) looked completely ruined at that stage, but a safety car offered a lifeline, bunching all the cars back up again and eliminating the above deficit significantly.

While most pitted for new tyres, Hamilton remained out on the softs, and restarted P15 before going on to produce a stunning comeback drive, eventually earning himself the final podium spot and P3.

But it was mixed emotions for Hamilton post-race when speaking to the media, who believes he could have been on the top step.

"Given the pace you had today, if you had started with a different type of tyre, do you think you could have won this race?” the seven-time world champion was asked by Sky Sports F1.

Hamilton's answer was direct and to the point: "Yeah, yeah."

Mixed Malaysia emotions for Hamilton

"I mean, it's a mixed, mixed emotion," Hamilton continued. "On one side, I'm really really grateful to go back to the podium, and then on the other side, obviously with the debates that we're having in the background, to then see the covers come off the car ahead in wets and the one behind us on the slicks and the track being so tricky and dangerous at the beginning, I was kind of worried that the race was over.

"But then they were like, 'Stop!' And I was like, 'No, we've already made the decision. We have to live with it, and we'll stay up here until this bloody place dries,' and eventually it did. And then I just kept my head down, just kept pushing, just didn't give up. And I definitely didn't expect to get back to be P3."

Hamilton also explained just how long the track took to dry, as well as admitting that the late safety car that came out when George Russell was forced to retire was a 'blessing'.

“Crazy to think we were over a minute down," Hamilton said. "And the track took so long to dry, normally it's been spitting and it dries straight away because it's usually so hot here. But yeah, unfortunately that didn't happen for quite some time.

"But the team made really did a good job on the pit stops, and yeah, I wish we had longer and more opportunities to get further ahead. That safety car at the end was a blessing, enabling me to get to the podium.”

F1 standings after Bahrain Grand Prix

Hamilton's P3 at Sepang saw him close the gap on George Russell in second spot in the drivers' standings to just 22 points heading to Singapore.

The Brit, though, lost more ground on championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who is now 106 points ahead.

READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton hits back over Ferrari speculation - 'No clue what they're talking about'

READ MORE: Ferrari F1 chief Fred Vasseur given shock support from rival team

Written by

Simmey Hannifin Donaldson - F1 Editor

View full biography

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

F1 roasted on social media after Bahrain Grand Prix farce

• Today 15:54

Christian Horner congratulates Max Verstappen and Red Bull after his RBPT project achieves first F1 win

• 1 hour ago

FIA release statement after F1 cars’ ‘software error' sparks Bahrain Grand Prix chaos

• 2 hours ago

F1 Bahrain Grand Prix 2026 results: Final classification with all penalties applied from Sepang

• 3 hours ago

FIA confirm late Lewis Hamilton Ferrari change at Bahrain Grand Prix

• Today 09:27

F1 Race Today: Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia start times, schedule, TV channel and FREE live stream

• Yesterday 22:29