Hamilton second, Leclerc fourth for Ferrari on the Bahrain Grand Prix grid at Sepang
Lewis Hamilton qualified second for Scuderia Ferrari HP at the Bahrain Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc's fifth-fastest time becoming fourth on the grid after a penalty for Isack Hadjar.
- 1'35"428
- 1'35"666
- 5 places
- 15:00 local / 9:00 CEST
What Happened
Scuderia Ferrari HP will start the Bahrain Grand Prix from the front and second rows of the grid at the Sepang circuit, with the race beginning at 15:00 local time, 9:00 CEST, on Sunday. In qualifying held in extremely hot conditions, Lewis Hamilton set the second-fastest time, while Charles Leclerc recorded the fifth-fastest. The Monegasque will nonetheless start from fourth, because Isack Hadjar, who set the third-fastest time, has a five-place grid penalty.
- Q1: both drivers comfortably made it through the first phase on Medium tyres
- Q2: both SF-26s were fitted with new Soft tyres and immediately set times good enough to reach the final phase
- Q3: Hamilton and Leclerc each used two further new sets of the softest compound
- 1'35"745 on his first Q3 attempt, improved to 1'35"428 — second-fastest time, starts on the front row
- 1'35"878 on his first Q3 attempt, improved to 1'35"666 — fifth-fastest time, starts fourth
1'35"428
Second-fastest qualifying time, putting him on the front row for Sunday's race.
“First of all, a huge thank you to everyone in the team. The conditions have been incredibly demanding all weekend, not just for the drivers but also for the mechanics and engineers, and they've done a fantastic job. We worked hard session after session to understand the car and find the right balance in these temperatures, and the adjustments we made ahead of qualifying definitely helped us take a step forward. We managed to put it all together when it mattered most. Tomorrow will be a very different challenge, with tyre management likely to play a big part, but it's great to be starting on the front row. Now we just need to focus on executing a clean race, maximising every opportunity and seeing what we can achieve.”
“P4 is not a bad place to start from. At the same time, it wasn't a great qualifying, particularly in Q3. I tried my best, but from sector two onwards, I was sliding around with the rear, probably being a bit too aggressive with the setup. That's the way it goes sometimes. Tyre management and strategy will both be key in the race. Let's see what we can bring home for the team.”
Tomorrow's Bahrain Grand Prix promises to be particularly demanding given the high temperatures and the potential impact of tyre degradation. This evening the team will analyse all the data gathered over the weekend to define the best strategy and prepare in detail for what is expected to be a closely fought race. The stated aim is to maximise the team's points haul. The race starts at 15:00 local time, which is 9:00 CEST.
Previously from Ferrari N.V.
Ferrari's build-up to qualifying at Sepang saw Charles Leclerc fifth and Lewis Hamilton sixth in the third and final free practice session. Leclerc had topped the times in the second practice session with Hamilton fifth fastest, while in the opening session the pair were fourth and sixth.
- Leclerc fifth, Hamilton sixth for Ferrari in final Bahrain Grand Prix practice at Sepang
- Leclerc fastest in second Bahrain GP practice at Sepang, Hamilton fifth for Ferrari
- Ferrari's Leclerc fourth, Hamilton sixth in Bahrain Grand Prix FP1 at Sepang
Background drawn from MotorClaw's earlier coverage of Ferrari N.V.'s official releases.
Why this matters
Ferrari will start Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix from the front and second rows at Sepang, giving the team two strong starting positions in its push for points. The race is expected to be especially demanding because of high temperatures and tyre degradation, so grid position and strategy could shape the result for Ferrari and its rivals.
Terms in This Story
- Q3
- The final phase of qualifying, in which the fastest cars from the earlier phases compete for the top grid positions.
- Grid penalty
- A sanction that drops a driver a set number of places from the position in which they qualified.
- Tyre degradation
- The gradual loss of grip and lap time as a tyre wears during a race.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.