Slick-tyre gamble hurts McLaren and Ferrari in Sepang

The Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia was shaped by a tyre decision that hurt McLaren and Ferrari. After a delay of one hour and 33 minutes, conditions at the start of the race favoured intermediate tyres, despite the Sepang circuit appearing to dry out.

For the restart, Ferrari chose soft slicks and McLaren medium slicks. But when the race began behind the safety car, the track was still too slippery for that choice. Lando Norris said the idea of starting on slicks had seemed “quite convincing”, while admitting he was unsure how the intermediates would perform. On his reconnaissance lap to the grid, the green-walled tyre had seemed to struggle on Sepang’s abrasive surface.

Norris acknowledged the danger: “It felt maybe a little bit of a risk, because a slick on a wet track is always a bit of a risk.” He also said that seeing many competitors consider the option had made it seem credible at the time. His impression of the intermediates, he added, had been misleading: he had rarely used them before and they had felt better than they really were.

Before the standing start, McLaren changed its plan and brought Oscar Piastri in for a set of intermediates. Norris and the Ferraris, by contrast, stuck with their initial choice. Seven-time champion Hamilton, meanwhile, reasoned that Ferrari might as well stay with the gamble: the team was already well behind, and another pit stop would cost more time.

After the gambles failed to pay off, Hamilton joked that he was not going to “go to the casino with the guys”. He also recalled seeing spray behind Max’s car as he exited the pits and realising that his race was “really in trouble”.

The decision underlined the dilemma at the restart: the track looked as though it was drying, but grip remained inadequate for slick tyres. For both McLaren and Ferrari, the initial gamble ran up against the conditions on the circuit.