Lewis Hamilton on Ferrari’s strategy: “I’m not going to the casino with them”

What must have been going through Lewis Hamilton’s mind before the start? Verstappen and the Mercedes duo were on intermediates – an obvious choice given that the Sepang International Circuit was still patchy in places – whilst Hamilton and his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc were on soft slicks.

Lewis elaborates: “The car felt great in qualifying. It was brilliant to secure second on the grid, and we were all really buzzing.”

“My engineers and I were here at the track until about 11.30 pm, going through everything, and I really felt that the race presented us with an opportunity to put up a good fight against Max.”

“Then the rain came, and then came the utter chaos as many drivers suddenly lost engine power. I even had to stop on the track and restart the car. And then we all ended up in the pit lane to bring a bit of calm to the chaos and work on the power units.”

“The wait was quite long, and of course we discussed which tyres we should go into the race on. And I said: ‘Look, there was already a lot of spray on the laps leading up to the starting grid.’ ”

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“I went out into the pit lane, looked at the ground and saw: it’s still quite wet. So I went to the pit wall and told my lads: ‘It’s still quite wet.’ And they said: ‘Yes, but because it’s taken so long, it’s bound to dry out quickly and maybe we’re already in the transition phase.’»

“Anyway, as a team we ended up going for the soft tyres, and when we were at the end of the pit lane and the others had taken off their heated covers and were on intermediates, I knew – we’ve got a problem now.”

“And as we drove out, all this spray was coming from the rear of Max’s car and I thought: ‘Right, I’m done for. My race is really in trouble.’”

“But there was nothing we could do now; we were on the formation lap, so we just had to get on with it. It felt like everyone was overtaking me, and now they were trying to bring me in. I thought to myself: Falling further behind? I might as well just stay out. So I radioed back: ‘Let’s carry on until the track is dry.’»

“And once it was dry, the car felt so good again that I was catching up with and overtaking people. Just like in qualifying, the car handled beautifully. Then came some really good pit stops from my lads and a good strategy.”

“But I never would have thought we’d be back on the podium in the end. I’m very grateful.”

Hamilton could be heard on the radio at the start of the Grand Prix: ‘No, let’s take the risk.’ Ultimately, he had little choice. But how does Hamilton intend to deal with his team in future? Lewis jokes: ‘Well, I’m not going to the casino with them.’

Then he becomes serious again: “We’ll definitely have an open dialogue. I’m really so proud of my team. The mechanics every weekend, the work they put in, the engineers who come to the circuit every weekend, the catering team – truly, everyone at Ferrari gives their all. Their hearts are in the right place.”

“We definitely have areas where we need to improve, and we’re not denying that. So we’ll have a constructive discussion, regroup, take the positives from this weekend with us, and next week we’ll take on our track rivals once again.”

“As I said, I thought there might be a chance today to fight Max for the win – perhaps we can make up for it next week in Singapore.”