Lewis Hamilton says it will be important for Ferrari to focus on their own race for what is expected to be a challenging Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia but admits it would be "awesome" if they have the pace to stay with polesitter Max Verstappen from the front row. Hamilton produced "probably my best lap of the year" to claim second on the grid with his last attempt of qualifying at the Sepang International Circuit, his second front-row start of the year. It will be the first time Verstappen and Hamilton, the grid's two-most successful drivers and the sport's biggest names, have started at the head of a Grand Prix together since July 2023, at that year's Hungarian Grand Prix. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli is just behind them in third, creating a mouth-watering head of the grid for lights out at 8am on Sunday live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event.
Verstappen claimed pole, Red Bull's first of the season, by 0.298s and the Dutchman's form so far this weekend on F1's return to Sepang suggests he is the favourite to win too. Indeed, Hamilton was staying cautious about Ferrari's chances of fighting for victory. "I think I can be really happy with today," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.
"I think in the last race we were not fast in the race so I don't know, pace wise, how we will be tomorrow. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player "What I do know is we carry this deficit of straight-line speed. What that ultimately means is I think we're slightly quicker through corners, particularly low-speed corners I think we're a little bit quicker than say the Red Bulls and some of the others, but then on the straights we lose a lot.
"What that means then for the race on a track like this where degradation is very, very high, tyres are getting so hot all the time, is we have to push more through corners to try and keep up and make up for the loses in the straights. "So that's ultimately what we have to be careful of doing too much of tomorrow [Sunday] and degrading more in trying to hold on to them. So I think we just have to run our own race, whatever that be pace wise, and not be focusing on trying to over-push to hold on.
"I think he's got the pace generally to pull away but if that's different when we start the race and we're able to hold on and we're in the fight, that'd be awesome as well. But all we can do is do our best, so I'll give it everything tomorrow." F1 has experienced typically hot and humid conditions on the sport's first return to Malaysia in nine years but the abrasiveness of an aged Sepang track surface has created additional unexpected challenges. Multiple pit stops are predicted in Sunday's 56-lap race, with teams expected to adopt different tyre strategies and all three tyre compounds likely to be seen.
Hamilton said after qualifying: "I'm much happier with where the car is, but tomorrow is a completely different ballgame. Making these tyres last around this track - I mean, they're overheating from the get-go. "Every little bit of wheelspin you have, every little snap you have makes a difference of how far you're going to go.
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