Lewis Hamilton finished third at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia despite falling 15 places to 17th position after opting for soft slick tyres instead of intermediates at the start. The Ferrari driver dropped a full minute behind the leaders on the first lap when the track didn't dry as quickly as hoped, prompting his team to suggest switching compounds.
Hamilton made the call from the cockpit to gamble and stay on the soft tyres rather than pit for intermediates. The decision ultimately proved correct as he roared through the field to complete a remarkable comeback drive to the final podium position behind Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli.
The seven-time champion described the result as bittersweet, acknowledging Ferrari had an opportunity but didn't maximise it with the wrong tyre choice at the start. He didn't think he would be able to recover to third place after seeing himself a minute down on the timing screens.
Hamilton praised his Ferrari team's pit stop work during the race, which involved multiple tyre changes as he chased down the field. He felt the car performed well once the race got going, calling it one of his better weekends in red and expressing optimism about taking this performance level to the next race.