Hamilton 'massively' fired up to spoil Verstappen's Bahrain GP victory bid
Photo: Race Pictures
Tobia is a Formula 1 journalist at GPblog with experience at international circuits. Since 2022, he has covered Grands Prix across Europe, delivering reliable coverage and insights from the paddock.
Lewis Hamilton is looking forward to sharing the front row with Max Verstappen once again at the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix and hopes to remain in contention for victory all the way to the chequered flag.
The Briton delivered an excellent qualifying performance for Ferrari yesterday, securing a front-row start that will see him line up alongside the four-time world champion for the 14th time in his Formula 1 career, and for the first time since the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Speaking during the drivers’ parade, the seven-time world champion turned his attention to the uncertain weather conditions and the challenge awaiting him in the race. With rain beginning to fall, Hamilton made clear that his priority is to stay in the fight at the front and take the battle to Verstappen for as long as possible.
“It's starting to rain now, which is kind of exciting, but I don't know whether that's going to stay. It's going to be a really challenging race. But I really hope that we can just race. I hope that we can stay in the fight.
“Hopefully we can deliver a good result today. I'm going to give it absolutely everything to try and hold on and fight with Max.”
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Photo: Race Pictures
Hamilton starts Bahrain GP with potential trump card over Verstappen
Verstappen and Hamilton will head into the Bahrain Grand Prix with different tyre allocations available. The Red Bull driver has one fresh hard, medium and soft, while Hamilton has two new hards, a used medium and a fresh soft. With significant degradation expected, Ferrari’s extra set of new hards could give Hamilton an important additional option during the race.
Several of the drivers immediately behind the front row are well stocked on the hardest compound. Kimi Antonelli, George Russell, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Isack Hadjar all have two fresh sets of hards and one new medium available, although none of them has a new soft remaining. Charles Leclerc has gone in a different direction, retaining two fresh softs alongside one new hard and a used medium.
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