Lewis Hamilton makes casino joke after Ferrari tyre disaster at F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia

Lewis Hamilton managed to see the funny side of Ferrari’s strategy blunder at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia after staging a remarkable fightback to the Formula 1 podium. 

Seven-time world champion Hamilton produced an extraordinary drive to salvage a podium finish after Ferrari’s incorrect tyre choice for a wet start saw him tumble from second on the grid to towards the back of the pack. 

Hamilton found himself over a minute off the lead after Ferrari’s slick tyre gamble backfired horrendously, but the 41-year-old Briton refused to give up and brilliantly battled his way back through the field. 

Hamilton’s recovery to the podium was complete when he passed Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar for third place with three laps remaining. 

“Obviously, the rain came, the big panic with everyone when we all lost power. And particularly, my power didn’t come back and I had to stop on track and restart the car,” Hamilton said of the dramatic start to Sunday’s race at Sepang. 

“Then we all ended up in the pit lane. Thankfully, we all got back to our positions, but then after that there was such a long wait and we were debating on what tyre to go on to. 

“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.” 

“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. And as we pulled out, 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.” 

“So then 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. 

“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. I’m really, really grateful that we managed to get back here.” 

When asked what he will be saying in the debrief to help Ferrari make correct decisions in the future, Hamilton jokingly replied: “Yeah.. not going to the casino with the guys.”

Hamilton continued: “We’ll definitely have an open dialogue. And, you know, 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. 

"I thought today, as I said, was a chance for us potentially to try and fight Max for the win, but maybe we can do that next week.”

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur acknowledged the gamble to start on slick tyres was ultimately the wrong call. 

“Overall, it’s a good result. If you consider that we were 21 and 22 on lap one, it’s a very strong performance,” Vasseur told Sky Sports F1. 

“The choice of the tyres, you can discuss at length. But I think 50 per cent of the cars went for slick, 50 for inters – from the pit lane you don’t have the global picture of the track, and it’s not easy to understand what is the exact situation, but, for sure, we were on the wrong side.”