{"id":917291,"date":"2026-10-05T19:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T19:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/917291\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T19:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T19:04:09","slug":"fred-vasseur-concedes-regrets-over-key-ferrari-f1-bahrain-gp-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/917291\/","title":{"rendered":"Fred Vasseur concedes regrets over key Ferrari F1 Bahrain GP call"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sepang \u2013 Fred Vasseur has backed Ferrari<\/a>\u2019s tyre call for the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia despite Lewis Hamilton<\/a> and Charles Leclerc struggling on the damp track.<\/p>\n

Ferrari bounced back to finish third and fourth in Malaysia despite lapping over 20 seconds off the pace in the opening exchanges.<\/p>\n

Ferrari luck holds in Bahrain GP<\/p>\n

Alongside Red Bull, Ferrari appeared to have the measure of championship leaders Mercedes in Malaysia.<\/p>\n

However, after a chaotic formation lap resulted in a suspended start procedure, drivers were able to reevaluate their tyre selections for the official race start.<\/p>\n

With the pit straight appearing dry to the eye, just under half the field elected to fit either soft or medium slick tyres, with the remainder running the green-walled intermediate.<\/p>\n

The latter option proved to be the correct choice, with those on slick tyres losing over a pit stop worth of time on each of the opening laps.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you have to take your decision, you are trying to base the decision on good parameters,\u201d said Vasseur.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut for sure, at the end of the day, we have to be clear that it was not the right call, that it would have been much better for us to start with inter.\u201d<\/p>\n

More Bahrain Grand Prix reaction on PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n

George Russell \u201cbeyond disappointment\u201d after Bahrain GP blow to F1 title hopes<\/a><\/p>\n

FIA launches review after Bahrain Grand Prix power unit chaos<\/a><\/p>\n

Ordinarily, the baking hot Sepang surface dries quickly once the rain stops, but it took far longer than expected on Sunday.<\/p>\n

However, those who had started on slicks were granted a reprieve when Valtteri Bottas slid off the track and caused the safety car to be deployed.<\/p>\n

Although this meant that intermediate runners could switch to slicks without dropping back, it closed the sizable margins between the two packs, a factor that was key in Ferrari\u2019s recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on our feeling on the grid, I think 50% of the car went for slick, 50 for wet,\u201d added Vasseur.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just have a look on the tarmac in front of you in the pit lane, and for sure it was not a good one.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut no, it\u2019s not that I have no regrets. For sure, it\u2019s clear that it was better to start with the inter, but we did the choice with the information that we had.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if victory was within reach had Ferrari made the correct call at the start, he said: \u201cLet\u2019s leave this. I don\u2019t know because the race is for sure different when you have to overtake 20 cars than when you have to run in front.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was not a mega optimist after lap one, yet you never know. Also, because of the dirty air, it\u2019s much more difficult and energy management, and so that.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the pace was solid, and when Lewis was at the end of his stint with soft, he was still cruising in very good lap time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/p>\n

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n

Read next \u2013 Bahrain GP in Malaysia: Verstappen wins; Russell DNF; rain triggers utter chaos<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sepang \u2013 Fred Vasseur has backed Ferrari\u2019s tyre call for the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":917292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,197169,817,826,813,816,818,44,85],"class_list":["post-917291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bahrain-grand-prix","tag-f1","tag-ferrari","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-home-page","tag-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=917291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/917292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=917291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=917291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=917291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}