The slick tyre gamble that hurt McLaren and Ferrari's chances in Bahrain GP in Malaysia
by Jake Boxall-Legge · AutosportMcLaren and Ferrari ultimately ended up splitting their strategies for the start of F1's Bahrain GP in Malaysia - but the damage was already done by their starting choice of slicks
When the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia eventually got going after an hour and 33 minutes of delays, it became apparent that the intermediate was the tyre to be on among the opening laps - even if the Sepang circuit had looked like it was drying out.
At the front of the field, Ferrari and McLaren chose to go all-in on the dry tyres for the restart; Ferrari opted for the soft compound, while McLaren went for the mediums. When the race got underway behind the safety car, both teams were left to rue their choices as the circuit was still too slippery.
McLaren bailed on the plan early, stopping before the standing start to ensure Oscar Piastri could get a set of intermediates back onto the car, but Lando Norris and the Ferraris stuck with their choices. Charles Leclerc duly fed into the pitlane at the end of the lap, as the slick-tyre runners were swamped and then left behind by those who'd stuck with the intermediate for the start.
Lewis Hamilton and Norris surmised that, since they'd made their beds, they'd lie in them. Hamilton was asked if he wanted to stop again, but the seven-time champion reasoned that Ferrari might as well stick with the gamble given that the team was well behind - and pitting would only cost more time.
By the end of the eighth lap, the slick times were now equal with the intermediate runners; Valtteri Bottas' subsequent off then presented the inter-shod drivers with the chance to switch to slicks.
Speaking about the decision, Norris stated that the idea of starting on the slick was "quite convincing" and that he was unsure of the performance of the inter; on his recon lap to the grid, the Briton reported that the green-walled tyre was already feeling the pain on Sepang's rough surface.
"It felt maybe a little bit of a risk, because a slick on a wet track is always a bit of a risk," Norris said. "There was enough people on it that it was quite convincing at the time that it was possibly going to be the right decision.
"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.
"Oscar probably made the right decision in boxing and we got it wrong today, that's all."
Leclerc theorised that the roughness of the tarmac made it more difficult to read the track surface, as water pooled up in the gaps - and the drop in temperature that accompanied the rain ensured that the circuit took much longer to dry out than expected. Given the length of the downpour, any residual circuit temperature was swiftly extinguished.
Even though the Monegasque switched tyres, the time loss involved in pitting after the start kept him behind Hamilton, who ran longer on his set of soft tyres and quickly began to make up positions.
Hamilton joked that he wasn't going to "go to the casino with the guys" after the team's gambles didn't pay off, although praised his team's strategy in keeping him out on the road. The Briton was ultimately less enamoured with the medium after making a stop on lap 31, but the late-race VSC (later a full safety car) presented a chance to return to the soft - which he put to use with a pass on Isack Hadjar for third.
"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,'" Hamilton recounted.
"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 pitstops 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."
We want to hear from you!
Let us know what you would like to see from us in the future.
- The Autosport.com Team
Read and post comments