Has the Safety car prevented a better result from Ferrari? Ferrari was the only team in Bahrain to focus on an alternative strategy in the top group. In contrast to the competition in front, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton did not go with the soft tires, but with the medium.
As a result, both had a disadvantage in the initial phase, but the race seemed to meet Ferrari. Leclerc in particular had a good starting point because he was located directly behind George Russell on a podium and had the fresher tires due to his long first stint.
But the Safety car shortly after racing was the advantage because everyone took the chance to get new tires on the box – also Ferrari, which, however, were forced to drive to the box much earlier.
Strategy right, but too slow
And because the drivers had already completed two medium of medium, they had to take a different tire for the final phase and decided on the hard.
Ferrari couldn’t do much in the final phase. Pierre Gasly was able to settle behind it, but there was nothing left for Leclerc. Instead, he also had to let Lando Norris pull by, who had raised medium.
Nevertheless, Leclerc believes that the hard tire was the right choice in view of its options. George Russell had shown that you can also get to the finish at Softs, “but I don’t think that would have been an option for us,” says Leclerc. “But I don’t think that was a decisive factor.”
He also does not believe that the Safety car had a decisive influence on the result. Because despite the tire advantage, his tires behind Russell had already started to have problems and overheat. “Maybe we could have forced him to come in, that would have been good, but it just didn’t work,” he says.
“I just have the feeling that we are not fast enough at the moment,” Leclerc struggles with the unsatisfactory end. “You can express it in different ways. We pushed a bit in the first stint, and the second was faster, but only because of the mining. And when we found ourselves in the same situation as everyone else, we simply had no speed.”
“So I think we just missed the pace. And if the pace is missing, it doesn’t matter which strategy you drive – you are always on the wrong side.”
Ferrari star Leclerc: need more downforce
So far, Ferrari’s season has not been as desired. Apart from the sprint victory in Shanghai, no driver was on the podium in 2025. Ferrari had a new underbody in Bahrain, but that also only brought a small effect.
“We just need more download overall, more grip,” says Leclerc and believes that the drivers are already getting the maximum out of the car. “There is simply nothing left,” he says.
“I just need more grip to get through the curves faster. In qualifying, we can conceal it with a few tricks, but in the race there is no grip. This then leads to more tire mining – a snowball effect in the race. It gets much more difficult.”
Tunnel longer than desired
Teams like McLaren can better handle the tires in the race. Leclerc: “As a team, we should concentrate the most, because as soon as the race runs, you are just one step ahead.”
“I don’t think they are tricks,” he continues. “I think it is downforce and probably something that you generally do very well with the tires. But I don’t doubt that everything is legal. If I speak of tricks, it shouldn’t be misunderstood. But they definitely do something very well with the tires – they manage to keep the temperatures lower than everyone else.”
The World Cup train is slowly leaving for Ferrari. The team already lacks 94 points in McLaren, although both had fought for the design title in the 2024 final phase. And for now, improvement does not seem to be in sight: “I have the feeling that the tunnel is a little longer than I would like,” Leclerc struggles.
“But yes, at some point we will find our way – but I don’t know how long.”