Lewis Hamilton comes clean on his involvement in using the hard tire for the F1 Bahrain GP

Lewis Hamilton believes that Ferrari’s decision to run the hard tire during the Bahrain Grand Prix wasn’t the most effective strategy. Speaking to media including Sportskeeda, ahead of the Saudi Arabian GP in Jeddah, the seven-time world champion admitted that the choice left him vulnerable to rivals on fresher, softer compounds in the final stages of the race.

While both Ferraris displayed solid pace on the hard tire during their last stint, an untimely safety car disrupted their ability to fully exploit the compound. Pirelli had identified two stints on the medium tire and one on the soft as the fastest approach for the race, a route Hamilton ultimately opted against.

Lewis Hamilton explained that his dissatisfaction with the soft compound during FP2 led him to favour the hard tire for the race. Although he got a good restart following the safety car period, he experienced understeer on the harder compound and was ultimately unable to hold off faster cars. The Briton conceded that he stood no chance against Lando Norris, who was on a fresh set of mediums, but maintained that there were encouraging signs from Ferrari’s overall pace, even if strategy played a decisive role in the outcome.

Asked by Sportskeeda how much the hard tire hampered his Bahrain GP result despite the pace of the Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton replied:

“I think in hindsight, the hard tire wasn't the greatest tire for the race. I think for us, I did a long run in P2 on a soft and it didn't feel good. So from that experience, I was more prone to go for the hard tire than we were as a team. But as you can see, soft, medium, medium or soft was the best strategy in the end."

"So lots of positives to take from it. The hard tire at the end for me was, I got a good restart, but then we were under balance, we didn't have enough front -meaning, so I had a lot of understeer. And the tire, I couldn't keep up with that, the medium tire was a much better tire, so when you had someone around you with or Lando who managed to go past, had the medium tire rather than had no chance to stay with him.”

---

Lewis Hamilton reckons changes to his driving style have helped him adapt to the Ferrari better

Lewis Hamilton revealed that adjustments to his driving style during the second stint of the Bahrain Grand Prix yielded a noticeable performance improvement. The Ferrari driver explained that adapting his approach to better suit the car made a significant difference in pace, and he hopes to carry that momentum into the Saudi Arabian GP in Jeddah.

Lewis Hamilton noted that the current generation of F1 machinery demands a different technique compared to previous cars, particularly those from 2021 and earlier, which naturally aligned with his style. As he continues to familiarise himself with Ferrari’s tools and setup philosophies, the seven-time world champion emphasized the importance of evolving his driving style to extract the most from the car.

Asked if he could replicate the performance from the second stint he had in Bahrain in Jeddah, Lewis Hamilton replied:

“That's the goal. I think it was a real positive to have that stint and had that experience with the car. Some changes that I have made with my driving style during the race, so, I am not implicating that every time I go out in the car [it can be like that], it's easy to automatically go back to your old driving style. So that's something I do think makes for a continued to practice but I feel positive about it.”

Asked to explain if the changes were applicable only to the track in Bahrain and its track conditions, he said:

“I think it's applicable. As I said, it's just, if you look at my driving style, particularly back in 2021 and before, worked well with that trim on the car, and this driving style that I have, and maybe others already have. I know for sure Charles, I think, has had it since he's been here for some year. It's just new. It's like, naturally, when the pressure builds up and you need to really pull out that extra bit of time, you can easily fall to your old ways. And I've seen lots of this through testing, but to actually adapt to it and actually utilise it every single time is something I want to work on.”

Lewis Hamilton has spent the first four race weekends of the season focusing on adapting to his new tools and settling into his new environment at Ferrari. While the former Mercedes driver has shown flashes of his potential, particularly in China, a circuit that naturally suits his late-braking style, qualifying has largely favoured teammate Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque driver has out-qualified Hamilton in three of the four rounds so far.

Lewis Hamilton’s signature late-braking technique, effective in previous F1 eras, has been harder to execute with the current generation of ground-effect cars, which rely heavily on aerodynamic stability and present a different balance challenge. Despite this, he delivered a solid 2023 campaign under the same regulations, indicating that with time and setup convergence, he could be a serious contender.

In the standings, Leclerc holds fifth with 32 points, while Lewis Hamilton follows closely in seventh with 25. The gap in points is narrower than the one in qualifying pace, suggesting race-day performance and adaptability are playing a key role. Ferrari, meanwhile, sit fourth in the constructors’ championship with 57 points, a position somewhat unrepresentative of their potential due to the double disqualification in China. Despite Red Bull’s uncharacteristic early-season instability and driver changes, Ferrari have not yet capitalised fully, leaving room for recovery in the coming rounds.