Formula 1: Hamilton defeated by Ferrari’s “sharp call”

On Sunday, Lewis Hamilton pulled off a “minor miracle”, said Jonathan Mcevoy in the Daily Mail. He was fined for driving too slowly. The world’s fastest man was “done for travelling at 35mph, a tardiness that cost him a shot at winning the Bahrain Grand Prix”. As he was entering the pit lane, Hamilton slowed down dramatically, in the process impeding Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo. For this, he landed a five-second penalty, and went on to lose to Sebastian Vettel by just 6.6 seconds. But in the end, that wasn’t the reason he lost, said Giles Richards in The Guardian. The race was decided by a “sharp call” made by Ferrari. On the 11th lap, they pulled Vettel in for an early pit stop. With fresh tyres, he “banged in some quick laps” – so that when the safety car was brought out soon after, prompting Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas to pit, Vettel took the lead, which he held until the end of the race. The fact is that although Mercedes may have a faster car, Ferrari work their tyres better: so “a good pit call can make the difference”.

It looks as if the years of Mercedes dominance are coming to an end, said Andrew Benson on BBC Sport online. And that will force them to make a tough decision. When the team faced little opposition, they could afford to let their drivers battle it out. Now, they have no such luxury – and that will require themto give priority to Hamilton, with Bottas “playing backup”. A head-to-head between such different men as Hamilton and Vettel is an intriguing prospect, said Mcevoy. Hamilton is a “playboy bachelor”. Vettel enjoys a quiet life in the Swiss countryside: an Only Fools and Horses fan, the German driver talks to his mechanics in rhyming slang. Aside from their brilliance on the track, the two have “nothing in common”.