Ferrari used an alternative strategy for both drivers, but Charles Leclerc says tactics don’t work without the right pace
Did the safety car prevent Ferrari from achieving a better result? Ferrari was the only team in the leading group to use an alternative strategy in Bahrain. In contrast to the competition at the front, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton did not start on the soft tires, but on the mediums.
As a result, both were at a disadvantage in the early stages, but the race seemed to suit Ferrari. Leclerc, in particular, had a good starting position because he was on course for a podium finish just behind George Russell and had fresher tires due to his longer first stint.
But the safety car shortly after the halfway point negated the advantage, because everyone took the chance to get new tires in the pits – including Ferrari, who were forced to pit much earlier as a result.
And because the drivers had already completed two medium stints, they had to use a different tire for the final phase and opted for the hard.
But that didn’t help Ferrari much in the final phase. Although they were able to pull away from Pierre Gasly behind them, there was nothing more for Leclerc to gain in terms of position. Instead, at some point he also had to let Lando Norris pass, who had mounted mediums.
Strategy right, but too slow
Nevertheless, Leclerc believes that the hard tire was the right choice given his options. Although George Russell had shown that it was possible to finish strongly on softs, “but I don’t think that would have been an option for us,” says Leclerc. “But I don’t think that was a deciding factor.”
He also does not believe that the safety car had a decisive influence on the result. Despite the tire advantage, his tires had already started to overheat behind Russell. “Maybe we could have forced him to come in, that would have been good, but it just didn’t work out,” he says.
LAP 52/57
Total commitment at Turn 4!
Norris goes around the outside to snatch P3 away from Leclerc F1 BahrainGP pic. twitter.com/iUUfQgan4F
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 13, 2025
“I just feel like we’re not fast enough right now,” Leclerc struggles with the unsatisfactory end. “You can put it in different ways. We pushed a bit on the first stint and the second was faster, but only because of degradation. And when we found ourselves in the same situation as everyone else at the end, we just didn’t have the pace.
“So I think we just didn’t have the pace. And when you don’t have the pace, it doesn’t matter what strategy you run – you’re always on the wrong side.”
Leclerc: Need more downforce
So far, the season has not gone as Ferrari would have wished. Apart from the sprint victory in Shanghai, neither driver has been on the podium in 2025. Although Ferrari brought a new underbody to Bahrain, it only had a small effect.
“We just need more downforce overall, more grip,” says Leclerc, who believes that the drivers are currently getting the maximum out of the car. “There’s just nothing left,” he says.
“I just need more grip to get through the corners faster. In qualifying, we can hide it a bit with a few tricks, but in the race, no grip is no grip. That leads to more tire degradation – a snowball effect in the race. It’s going to be much more difficult.”
Tunnel longer than desired
Teams like McLaren are better at managing the tires in the race. Leclerc: “That’s what we should focus on the most as a team, because as soon as the race starts, they’re just one step ahead.”
“I don’t think it’s a trick,” he continues. ‘I think it’s downforce and probably something they do very well with tires in general. But I have no doubt that everything is legal. When I talk about tricks, don’t get me wrong. But they definitely do something very well with the tires – they manage to keep the temperatures lower than anyone else.’
The championship train is slowly leaving for Ferrari. The team is already 94 points behind McLaren, even though both were fighting for the 2024 Constructors’ Championship in the final stages. And there seems to be no improvement in sight for the time being: “I have the feeling that the tunnel is a little longer than I would like,” laments Leclerc.
“But yes, we will surely find our way at some point – but I don’t know how long it will take.”
