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Lewis Hamilton reflected upon his best outing yet in the SF-25, securing a fifth-place finish in the Bahrain Grand Prix. The driver broke down what worked during the race, pointing to a strong middle stint that unlocked the car's potential.
On Sunday, April 13, Hamilton lined up six spots behind his Scuderia teammate, Charles Leclerc. Despite the gap, he showed early promise as he passed Carlos Sainz for P8 on lap 9.
When Hamilton emerged from the pits on medium tires, he found himself to be the fastest man on the track and began picking apart his competition. By the time the race hit the halfway mark, he had managed to close in on the top contenders. The Brit briefly held P4 after overtaking Lando Norris during a safety car restart.
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Talking to the media post-race, Hamilton discussed his key takeaways from the race.
"I learned a lot today, and as I saw, that middle stint I was really in line with the car and I had the pace and I was moving forwards. I need that at the beginning and the end and I need that in qualifying so I know what to search for now,” he said, via F1.com.
The Scarlet duo capped off the race with a strong showing, placing outside the podium places to round out the top 5. Lewis Hamilton picked up ten points for his effort and moved up a place in the Driver's standings to claim seventh overall.
F1 pundit breaks down Lewis Hamilton's gap to Charles Leclerc at Bahrain GP
Ahead of the Bahrain GP, F1 pundit Mark Hughes talked in depth about Lewis Hamilton's deficit to his Ferrari counterpart. He analyzed the differences in car handling that influenced Saturday's qualifying results.
Barring China, Hamilton has consistently qualified behind his teammate, Charles Leclerc. Reflecting upon the same, Hughes said, via The-Race.com:
"The Ferrari in its current state is way more demanding than a McLaren, with no consistency in balance between one corner and the next, but Leclerc has been able to take out his brain and ride the bronco, hoping that new tyre grip would cover up the worst of it."
Hughes commented on Hamilton's struggle to retain rear-end stability through high-speed corners.
"Lewis was just not able to muster the same faith as Leclerc in the rear of the car. He couldn't carry anything like the same confidence through the fast, demanding interconnected Turns 5-6-7 sequence where he simply bleeds lap time," he added.
Up next, Lewis Hamilton heads to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at Jeddah Corniche Circuit, aiming to recapture past glory at the track. In the track's inaugural race in 2021, Hamilton secured pole position and went on to become the race winner.
