How a Slick Tyre Gamble Dented McLaren and Ferrari’s F1 Bahrain GP Hopes

A prolonged delay of one hour and 33 minutes set the stage for tactical turmoil at the start of the race at the Sepang circuit. As the field prepared to get underway, track conditions proved deceptively treacherous. While intermediate tyres quickly revealed themselves as the proper choice for the early laps on the damp surface, front-running operations Ferrari and McLaren took aggressive strategic gambles by selecting dry compounds. Ferrari chose the red-walled soft compound for both drivers, while McLaren sent their cars out on mediums. Once racing resumed behind the safety car, it became immediately clear that the asphalt lacked sufficient grip for slicks.

Early Pit Decisions and McLaren’s Split Tactics

Realizing the track was far too wet, McLaren reacted swiftly on Oscar Piastri’s side of the garage. The team bailed on their dry tyre strategy before the standing start, bringing Piastri in to fit intermediate tyres. In contrast, Lando Norris remained out on his medium rubber alongside the two Ferraris. When the green flag waved, the slick runners were instantly swamped and dropped down the order as cars shod with intermediates pulled away with superior grip. Charles Leclerc decided to salvage his race by diving into the pitlane at the end of the first lap, but Lewis Hamilton and Norris opted to remain on circuit to ride out the deficit.

Norris explained after the race that the rough surface of the track during the laps leading up to the start severely skewed their data. Observing extreme wear on the intermediate compound led the team to believe slicks were the better option. Norris reflected on the choice:

“It felt maybe a little bit of a risk, because a slick on a wet track is always a bit of a risk. There was enough people on it that it was quite convincing at the time that it was possibly going to be the right decision. 

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“The laps to the grid on the inter when it was a similar kind of condition, they had so much grip and my Inter was completely shredded after one lap. 

“I was convinced a slick tyre would work, but I think it was just the fact I’ve never really been on the inter before. Things just felt a lot better than they should have done in a way.

“If we would have had a read on an inter from a previous weekend, maybe I would have been able to understand it more. But that convinced us and it clearly convinced a lot of people.

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“Oscar probably made the right decision in boxing and we got it wrong today, that’s all.”

Track Surface Traps and Hamilton’s Podium Recovery

Leclerc analyzed that the abrasive Sepang tarmac concealed standing water within the crevices, making track evaluation difficult from the cockpit. Combined with sharp drops in ambient temperature from the heavy downpour, the circuit took vastly longer to dry out than projected. Although Leclerc made the switch to intermediates, the pit stop penalty dropped him behind teammate Hamilton, who elected to remain on his starting softs and minimize further pit stop time loss.

Hamilton’s decision was validated as the crossover point arrived. By the end of lap eight, slick lap times matched those of the intermediate runners, and an off from Valtteri Bottas prompted the intermediate pack to pit for dry tyres. Hamilton later pitted for mediums on lap 31 before taking full advantage of a late Virtual Safety Car that transitioned into a full Safety Car. Switching back to soft tyres, the seven-time world champion executed a clinical overtake on Isack Hadjar to secure third place. Hamilton shared the tension inside the cockpit and praised his crew’s execution:

“As we pulled out [of the pits], all the spray came out the back of Max’s car and I was like, ‘okay, I’m done. My race is really in trouble,’

“We just had to stick with it. As everyone’s overtaken me, they [the engineers] were like, ‘we stop.’ I know we’ve already made another 26 seconds. What’s the difference from that with one minute 40 or whatever I was down? So I was just, ‘Let’s just wait it out for the track to dry.’

“And once it did, it felt good that I was catching people. The car felt great then after that. Really good pit stops from my guys in the garage and then good strategy. But for us to get back to the podium, I never thought that that was going to be the case. Of course, I’m really, really grateful that we managed to get back here.

“We’ll definitely have an open dialogue, and I’m really so proud of my team. The mechanics every weekend, just the work they’re putting in, the engineers that accompany here every weekend, the catering, everyone really, really comes and gives it their best. 

“Their heart’s all in the right spot. We’ve definitely got areas that we need to improve and we know that, and we’re not in any denial of that. So I think we’ll have a constructive chat, we’ll regroup, we’ll take the positives from this weekend, which the car was really good, and we’ll come back next week fighting.”

Why This Matters

High-stakes strategy errors in mixed-weather Grands Prix often decide championship momentum. In this event, misreading the damp, low-temperature track surface exposed both McLaren and Ferrari to early vulnerabilities. However, Hamilton’s poise in overriding pit calls preserved track position and minimized total pit lane transit time, allowing the team to benefit directly when conditions normalized by lap eight. The performance confirms Ferrari’s underlying race pace on dry tyres while emphasizing the continuing operational need to bridge communication and weather reading between the pit wall and the cockpit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did Ferrari and McLaren start on slick tyres instead of intermediates?

Both teams believed the track was drying rapidly following the lengthy delay. Furthermore, drivers reported excessive tyre graining and wear on intermediate tyres during the reconnaissance laps to the grid, convincing engineers that intermediate tyres would rapidly degrade on the rough asphalt surface.

How did Lewis Hamilton manage to finish on the podium despite the tyre error?

Rather than compounding the mistake with an immediate pit stop that would have conceded over 20 seconds, Hamilton stayed on track with soft tyres until the track dried out by lap eight. Capitalizing on strong car pace, slick pit stops, and safety car periods later in the race, he made a final switch to fresh soft tyres and passed Isack Hadjar to secure third position.