From 18th to the Podium: Hamilton Makes His Second Chance Count

A failed tire gamble sent Lewis Hamilton tumbling from second to 18th, but a drying track, Safety Cars and a late opportunity helped him fight back to third at Sepang.

Lewis Hamilton needed the race to come back to him. When it did, he was ready.

The Ferrari driver finished third in Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia after falling to 18th during the race. He had started second, alongside Max Verstappen, before Ferrari’s decision to use soft slick tires on a wet Sepang circuit left him struggling for grip.

His recovery combined pace and persistence with favorable circumstances. Safety Cars reduced the damage, George Russell’s retirement opened a podium opportunity, and Hamilton completed the job by passing Isack Hadjar.

The gamble that went wrong

Ferrari expected the track to dry quickly enough for slicks to work. Instead, the intermediate runners pulled away while Hamilton lost positions.

He said his “heart just sank” when he saw Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli on intermediates. The spray behind Verstappen’s car confirmed how difficult the opening would be.

Ferrari subsequently asked whether he wanted to stop. Hamilton chose to continue, reasoning that a pit stop would add to the time already lost.

It was a decision to wait for conditions to improve. Once the track dried sufficiently, his soft tires began working and he started recovering ground.

The race gives him another chance

Safety Car interventions were central to the comeback, closing gaps that Hamilton would otherwise have needed to recover on track.

But he also had to work through the field. His progress eventually brought him onto Hadjar’s tail in the fight for fourth, where the Red Bull driver held him off.

Hamilton was less comfortable on the medium tires fitted during his race. The late neutralization gave Ferrari an opportunity to switch him back to softs for the finish.

Then Russell stopped while running third. Hadjar inherited the final podium position, with Hamilton still needing to find a way past.

Hamilton finishes the job

After the final restart, Hamilton overtook Hadjar to claim third. Charles Leclerc also passed the Red Bull to finish fourth.

Hadjar later said low battery charge compromised his ability to defend during the first two laps after the restart. He separately reported grip problems, adding context to Ferrari’s late progress.

Hamilton finished 4.919 seconds behind Verstappen and took 15 points from an afternoon that had threatened to unravel almost immediately.

The circumstances gave him another chance. His recovery put him in position to use it, and the pass on Hadjar turned that chance into a podium.