Hamilton third, Leclerc fourth for Ferrari in rain-hit, delayed Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang

The Bahrain Grand Prix at Malaysia's Sepang circuit was due to start at 15.00 with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc second and fourth on the grid, but heavy rain caused a 40 minute delay. The cars took to the track behind the Safety Car, but a general software problem meant the race director had to halt the start procedure, and the cars reformed on the grid at 16.30, 90 minutes after the original start time. The Ferraris were on Soft tyres while Max Verstappen and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, among others, were on Intermediates. Ferrari and the other slick-tyre runners dropped several places off the line, and Charles Leclerc suffered front wing damage and had to pit, rejoining on Intermediate tyres.

Leclerc worked his way back up from his early pit stop, moving into the top ten on lap 23 by passing Nico Hulkenberg's Audi ahead of Arvid Lindblad a lap later for ninth. He then passed Esteban Ocon for eighth on lap 28. He pitted for Soft tyres on lap 29 and rejoined 13th, then passed Franco Colapinto on lap 31 to move up to 11th, which became tenth when Liam Lawson pitted. On lap 32 he moved up to eighth following Hulkenberg's stop.

On lap 43 a Virtual Safety Car was deployed after Alex Albon stopped at the side of the track, and both Ferraris pitted, Hamilton rejoining sixth and Leclerc ninth. Two laps later the situation called for the Safety Car; the two McLarens pitted at that point and the Ferraris moved up to fifth and sixth. On lap 50 George Russell pitted with a problem, leaving Ferrari fourth and fifth. The race restarted on lap 51, and a lap later Hamilton passed Hadjar while Leclerc got ahead of the Frenchman on the following lap, ending with another podium for the Scuderia.