Ralf Schumacher after the Bahrain Grand Prix: Explosive statement about Hamilton and Verstappen

Did Ferrari throw away victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix on the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia? The Italian strategists sent Lewis Hamilton (starting from second on the grid, diagonally behind Max Verstappen) and Charles Leclerc (starting from fourth on the grid, diagonally behind Kimi Antonelli) into the race on soft slicks, even though it was clear to most observers that the track was still too wet.

So, could Ferrari have won here? Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur, after the spectacular race and Hamilton’s eventual third place (Leclerc fourth): “I don’t like these ‘ifs, ands and buts’. If you’re convinced that one option is better than the other, then you have to go for it with both drivers. McLaren, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes did the same.”

“What’s more, 50 per cent of the cars on the grid opted for intermediates, the others for dry tyres. So we weren’t the only ones.”

When fans and experts look at the incredible pace of Lewis Hamilton, who ultimately managed to fight his way up to third place, the question inevitably arises as to whether more might have been possible. Six-time Grand Prix winner Ralf Schumacher, acting as an F1 expert for our colleagues at Sky in Malaysia, believes – yes.

The 2001 and 2002 World Championship runner-up says: “It was chaos for Ferrari at Sepang. Lewis Hamilton drove really brilliantly. I do believe that if he’d been up there at the front from the start, he could have made life difficult for Max Verstappen. Ferrari could have been in contention for victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix.”

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