Lewis Hamilton said he was pushing to start on intermediate tyres before the choice of a slick compound led to a disastrous beginning to the Bahrain Grand Prix for Ferrari. Hamilton had qualified second on the grid at the Sepang International Circuit - with Malaysia hosting the race amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East - but his hopes of victory were blown as Ferrari chose to start both him and team-mate Charles Leclerc on soft slick tyres in the hope that the wet track would quickly dry out once the cars took to it. Max Verstappen, who won the race for Red Bull from pole position, and third-placed starter Kimi Antonelli were among the 14 out of 22 drivers that started on the intermediate tyre, with that group gaining a huge advantage as the slick-tyre runners dropped more than a minute off the lead in the opening stages.
Hamilton ultimately produced a remarkable comeback, having at one stage dropped to 18th, to claim a podium in third, but was left with "mixed emotions" after the race over the decision made following the rain delay at the start of the race. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player The seven-time world champion confirmed to Sky Sports F1 that he believed he had the pace to compete for victory, and said: "It's a mixed emotion. On one side I'm really grateful to have got back to the podium.
"And then on the other side, with the debates that we were having in the background, to then see the covers come off the car ahead and the one behind, them on wets and us on slicks, and the track being so tricky and dangerous at the beginning, it was definitely… my heart sank, and I was like, 'that's the race over'." Speaking in the post-race press conference, Hamilton added: "There was such a long wait and we were debating on what tyre to go on to. And I said, 'look, there was a lot of spray on the laps to the grid'. "And I went into the pit lane, I looked at the ground, I was like, 'it's still wet'.
I went to the pit wall and I was like, 'it's still wet'. And they're like, 'yeah, but because it's been so long, it's definitely going to dry up real quick and maybe we're already in the crossover'. "So, anyways, as a team, we ended up taking that soft and when we were at the end of the pit lane and these two took off their blankets and they're on inters, we were in trouble." Hamilton then had to take matters into his own hands to avoid the initial mistake being compounded as the Ferrari pit wall attempted to call him in to move onto intermediate tyres on lap five.
Hamilton rejected the call, insisting that the team had made "a gamble" that they must now stick with in the hope the track dried out. The decision paid off as the track drying and a Safety Car caused by Valtteri Bottas spinning his Cadillac into the gravel brought Hamilton back into play, before he began to surge through the field. Hamilton said: "We just had to stick with it.
Like, we've made the decision and live with it. And I think then, through that, as everyone's overtaken me, they're like, 'we stop'. "Because I know we've already made another 26 seconds.
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