Hamilton Reveals Ferrari’s Tyre Gamble: ‘My Heart Sank — I Thought the Race Was Over’
“It’s still wet” — that’s what Lewis Hamilton told the Ferrari pit wall shortly before the Sepang start, only to be told that after such a long delay, the track would dry out fast. The call became a gamble: Hamilton and Charles Leclerc would start on slick tyres, while 14 of the 22 drivers — Verstappen and Antonelli included — opted for intermediates.
When the tyre blankets came off and Hamilton saw his rivals sitting on intermediates, his confidence evaporated on the spot: “My heart sank, and I was like, ‘that’s the race over.'” The seven-time champion plunged to 18th, shipping over a minute to the leader within the opening laps.
The real twist came later — Hamilton refused a lap-five call to pit for a tyre change, insisting the team commit to the gamble it had made. A Safety Car and a drying track did the rest, and he clawed his way all the way back to third. His verdict on future strategy calls was short and dry: “Not going to go to the casino with the guys.”
Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur defended the tough call, admitting the limits of a pit-wall view: “From the pit lane you don’t have the global picture of the track” — but praised the recovery as a “strong performance.”
Source: Sky Sports (https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/13594863/lewis-hamilton-ferrari-driver-reveals-debate-that-preceded-disastrous-tyre-choice-at-start-of-bahrain-gp-in-malaysia)
