Why Hamilton’s middle stint gave him cause for optimism: Race data analysed

Lewis Hamilton was dejected by his performance in qualifying in Bahrain but struck a note of cautious optimism after the grand prix.

The Ferrari driver was clearly encouraged by the balance he found in his car in the middle of the race, which helped to lift him from ninth on the grid to fifth at the finish, one place behind team mate Charles Leclerc.

“I learned a lot today,” he told the official F1 channel after the race. “As you saw in that middle stint, I really was in line with the car. In that moment, I had the pace and I was moving forwards.

“I needed that at the beginning and at the end and I needed it in qualifying. So I know what to search for now.”

The Ferrari drivers started the race on the medium rubber, bucking the trend as most of their rivals lined up on softs. Once Hamilton got past Carlos Sainz Jnr his lap times improved, moving closer to Leclerc’s.

Ferrari pitted both its drivers on the same lap and over the second stint, once Hamilton got into clear air, he began to close on the cars ahead. Afterwards he described his car as feeling “night-and-day different” compared to how it was in qualifying.

“Of course, it was a hard afternoon. To progress is not easy out there, everyone’s so close.

“The car is sometimes quite hard to drive and I’m really working hard to adapt my driving style. That’s what I’ve really got to do and also get the set-up where I need it.

“We’ve got a much better set-up, I moved to where Charles was and he didn’t move away from that all weekend. I’m just getting confidence in that and then adjusting the driving style to it.”

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By the time drivers started making their second pit stops, Hamilton, his team mate and Piastri were the fastest drivers on the track. Neither Ferrari driver therefore particularly wanted to see a Safety Car on lap 32 as it cut their second stint short and suited those who had started on the soft rubber.

Several teams opted for softs at this point, notably Mercedes for George Russell. But Ferrari was more conservative, opting for the hard rubber.

Although Hamilton made life difficult for Lando Norris at the start of the second stint, his pace on the hards was not enough to keep up with those ahead. By the time the chequered flag dropped he was eight seconds behind Leclerc.

Whether Hamilton’s middle stint amounts to a turning point in his relationship with Ferrari’s car remains to be seen, but he gave an impression of palpable relief after the race.

The Safety Car didn’t just disrupt proceedings for the Ferrari drivers. It was also unwelcome for those who pitted shortly before it came out, notably Max Verstappen (though it barely broke into the top five things that went wrong for the Red Bull driver), Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, though all of them made it home in the points.

Perhaps the worst affected driver was Andrea Kimi Antonelli, though his afternoon was already looking tricky when he switched to a set of softs with 30 laps to go. Another driver who struggled after the Safety Car was Jack Doohan, who fell out of the points places having been ninth with 13 laps to go.

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2025 Bahrain Grand Prix lap chart

The positions of each driver on every lap. Click name to highlight, right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:

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2025 Bahrain Grand Prix race chart

The gaps between each driver on every lap compared to the leader’s average lap time. Very large gaps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:

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2025 Bahrain Grand Prix lap times

All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded). Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and toggle drivers using the control below:

2025 Bahrain Grand Prix fastest laps

Each driver’s fastest lap:

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2025 Bahrain Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

2025 Bahrain Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

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