Ferrari boss shares his take on Bahrain GP involving “mixed feelings”

Fred Vasseur, the team principal of Ferrari, explained his up-and-down feelings regarding the Bahrain GP, where both his drivers were able to score points in their battle for the constructors' championship, but simultaneously lost out on more success due to a safety car period during the event.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were able to secure a P5 and a P4 finish, giving the Italian team a total of 22 points in their fight against their closest championship rival, Red Bull Racing, who only took home 10 points after the P6 and P9 finishes of Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda.

While the Ferrari team boss was happy about this fact, the Safety Car that came out on lap 30 due to debris on the field caused Hamilton and Leclerc to take the chance and pit, which hampered the progress they were making on medium tyres.

"Mixed feelings. The positive is that we scored more points than our direct competitor, and in the end it's a good result, but it's a mixed feeling because I think the safety car was at the worst time for us, when we were on the medium, probably doing the best stint," Vasseur said. "We had to stop, but it is like it is. Let's start next week from scratch to try to do a better job. We are all surprised with Mercedes, that the soft could do 24 laps at the end. We were on the conservative side." [via @JunaidSamodien_ on X]

Charles Leclerc had started the race in P2, beginning the race ahead of George Russell and behind the eventual race-winner, Oscar Piastri. But quickly into the first lap, Leclerc lost out on his spot due to charges made by Russell and Lando Norris from P6, who fought to hold third place until the end of the race, giving the Ferrari driver a fourth-place finish.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton in his Ferrari began the race in ninth place, but when the checkered flag was waved, the Briton had made it up to P5, finishing ahead of his former championship rival Max Verstappen in P6. This also helped him secure the Driver of the Day title, taking home 29.6% of the votes

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Ferrari driver "disappointed" by outcome of the race

Charles Leclerc races during the Bahrain GP on April 13, 2025. - Source: Getty

Charles Leclerc, whose qualifying performance put a podium finish in his grasp, lost out on it after Russell's and Norris' moves during the Bahrain GP that saw him end the race in P4. Like the Ferrari team principal, Leclerc also highlighted how the safety car worked against them during the event, as well as opening up about the difficulties he faced during the start of the race.

"I am a bit disappointed. At the end of the day, we did everything that we had to. The start was tricky with the medium. We lost a few places. We had to be patient - we went a bit longer. Then it started to pay off."

"Then there was the safety car, which re-zero'd everything, and then on the hard we were struggling. It's a shame that we loose out on the podium. I felt like this was the best we could do today."

The Ferrari driver also opened up further on the issues he faced with the car, especially during the battle of what could've been the team's first podium.

"It's disappointing when you have some much fight towards the end - and you are fighting for the first podium of the season - the pace is not here, not good enough to achieve that. I hope that soon we will have the car to get back on it." [via @JunaidSamodien_ on X]

After the Bahrain GP, Ferrari sits in fourth place in the constructors' standings, having accumulated a total of 57 points over the first four Grands Prix of the season