Hamilton: Ferrari Had 'Huge Discussion' After Bahrain Tyre Blunder

Lewis Hamilton pulled no punches when reflecting on Ferrari's tyre strategy disaster in Bahrain — but he also made clear the whole team owns the mistake. Now, with Singapore on the horizon, he's pushing the Scuderia to do better.

The Blunder That Started It All

Ferrari sent both Hamilton and Charles Leclerc out on slick dry tyres at the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix, which was held in Malaysia on a wet track. The team expected the surface to dry quickly. It didn't. Fourteen of the 22 drivers who chose intermediate tyres stormed past both Ferraris in the opening laps, and Hamilton tumbled from second on the grid to the back of the field in a matter of minutes.

The seven-time world champion eventually clawed his way back to third — a remarkable recovery — but the damage to his championship campaign was real. He now sits a painful 106 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli.

'It Wasn't Good Enough'

According to Sky Sports, Hamilton was direct about how Ferrari responded internally. "It wasn't good enough and we've had a huge discussion about it," he said. "We're going to try and work on how we can come to a better conclusion more consistently in the future."

But Hamilton was equally quick to spread the blame beyond the strategists who often take the heat for these calls. He described the tyre decision as a collective one involving team principal Fred Vasseur, head of track engineering Matteo Togninalli, his race engineer, and himself.

"My strategy team gets the brunt of the call, but in actual fact, the call didn't come from the strategist," Hamilton explained. "Fred, Matteo, myself, my engineer — we make the decision together."

He even admitted his own gut told him something different. He said he went to the pit wall three times flagging that conditions were wet and pushed for intermediates — but the weight of opinion from three other voices pulled him in a different direction. "You hope three are more right than one," he said. "But in some scenarios it's the other way around."

For fans who remember Hamilton blasting Ferrari strategy with a pointed radio question earlier this season, the tone here was noticeably more measured — frustrated but constructive.

Defending the Team

Hamilton also pushed back on what he sees as uneven scrutiny of Ferrari. McLaren made the same call in Sepang, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri suffering identical consequences, yet the backlash wasn't nearly as loud.

"We do for some reason as a team get far more flack than anybody else," Hamilton said. "McLaren made the same mistake and the same call — and no one even said anything about it."

It's a fair point. Ferrari's high profile makes every misstep a headline, while similar errors from rivals often get brushed aside.

Singapore: A Real Shot at Victory?

Hamilton arrived in Singapore with cautious optimism. The Marina Bay Street Circuit's tight, twisty layout and low-speed corners suit Ferrari's current car profile better than power-heavy tracks with long straights — exactly the kind of place where rivals have been pulling clear.

"This is a high-drag circuit, so I'm hoping the straight-line advantage others have kind of comes down a little," Hamilton said. He's also eyeing the bumpy surface as something Ferrari needs to manage with a stable setup.

Singapore is also hosting a Sprint weekend for the first time, which means teams get just one practice session before Sprint Qualifying. Finding setup quickly is critical — Hamilton referenced data from Monaco, Montreal, and Baku as reference points.

Leclerc echoed his teammate's measured confidence. Ferrari have historically gone well at Marina Bay, but he was careful not to read too much into that — Budapest and Monaco looked good on paper too, and both ended in disappointment. As Hamilton has consistently shown this season, the desire to fight is there. Whether the machinery and strategy decisions can match that ambition is the real question.

With seven rounds left and a 106-point mountain to climb, every race counts. Singapore won't decide the title — but another blunder could all but end Hamilton's slim hopes.

Related on Ni4o: Hamilton Qualifies Third as Ferrari Trail Mercedes in Austria