Lewis Hamilton said that he felt mixed feelings after the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia in the Formula 1 World Championship, after he started from second place on the starting line, but fell to 18th place when his tire selection adventure failed, before he rose up and took third place in a chaotic race affected by rain on Sunday.
After rain delayed the start of the race for more than 90 minutes, Hamilton was one of the few drivers who replaced the medium tires with soft tires on a track that was not completely dry.
The Briton started slowly, then found himself falling in the standings to 18th place, but he chose to stick to his strategy despite Ferrari’s request that he enter the pit area to change tires.
Hamilton then made his way through the competitors as the track dried, while the entry of safety cars also helped him, and the veteran driver eventually succeeded in passing Red Bull's Ishak Hajjar in the final stages to secure a podium finish behind Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli.
Hamilton told reporters: “As a team, in the end we chose soft tires, and at the end of the pit lane, these two drivers (Verstappen and Antonelli) took off their tire covers, and my heart sank, because I immediately realized that we were in trouble.”
He added, "When we got out, all the spray came out of the back of Max's car, and I said to myself: 'Okay, I'm done. My race is in real trouble.'"
He continued: “We made a decision to live with the situation. While everyone was passing me, they (Ferrari) said: ‘Shall we stop?’ I said: ‘No, we have already waited another 26 seconds. What’s the difference?’”
But as the track dried out and he took advantage of the safety car, Hamilton began a stunning comeback; He chased Hajjar for fourth place, before George Russell's withdrawal gave him a chance to climb the podium.
Hamilton added: “I just waited for the track to dry, and once it was dry, I felt great because I was catching up with the others. The car was great. After that, my colleagues in the garage made very good stops in the pit area.”
He continued: “Then there was a good strategy. So, I never imagined that we would return to the podium. “I am truly grateful.”
His teammate Charles Leclerc also gave Ferrari fourth place, admitting that was the best they could achieve given how fast Red Bull and Mercedes were.
“Honestly, in the first part of the race, everything that could have gone wrong went wrong,” Leclerc said. In the second part, all the things that could have gone in our favor actually came to our advantage.”
He continued: “So in the end, I would rather it be like this than the other way around.” We finished fourth today, and I honestly think if it had been a normal race, we would have finished third or fourth. The two drivers in front of us were much faster. Lewis' speed was good. As for me, I had great difficulty with the car, and we are looking into the reasons for that. I felt good on Friday, and it remained good until the second qualifying session, and then I started to lose momentum in the third qualifying session. “The race today was very difficult.”
The Argentine team defeated its guest, Burkina Faso, 7-0 today (Sunday), in a friendly match that witnessed unusual circumstances, after the African team was forced to play the match with a squad of under-23 players, and arrived in Buenos Aires only 6 hours before the start of the match, after an 11-hour flight from Casablanca.
The participation of the under-23 team came after the first team refused to travel to Argentina, due to problems related to organizing the trip, in addition to financial disputes.
Lautaro Martinez scored the first goal for Argentina in the third minute after missing a penalty kick, before following the rebound from the goalkeeper into the net.
Moumouni Diallo added the second goal for Argentina by mistake against his own team in the eighth minute, then Gianluca Pristiani scored the third goal in the 12th minute.
Nicolas Paz added the fourth goal in the 35th minute, and one minute later Julian Alvarez scored the fifth goal, bringing the Argentine team to the end of the first half with a 5-0 lead.
Franco Mastantono scored the sixth goal in the 57th minute, before Giuliano Simeone concluded the scoring in the first minute of stoppage time.
The Argentine national team took complete control of the match, having 75 percent possession of the ball and making a large number of attempts, while Burkina Faso had only one shot on goal.
The website of the Spanish newspaper “Marca” quoted Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni as saying: “We want to thank Burkina Faso and everyone who attended for this effort. They brought dignity to football. We tried to play the match as if it was a final; Because this is the only way to respect these players.”
Scaloni made wholesale changes in the second half, giving 3 players their first international participation with Argentina: Mattia Sole, Thomas Palacios, and Santiago Castro.
Argentina is now preparing for Lionel Messi's farewell match for the national team, when it faces Benin on Tuesday at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires.
