Lewis Hamilton had a nightmare start to the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang, and it turns out Ferrari deliberately ignored what he was telling them about the track conditions. Former Ferrari driver Ivan Capelli reckons the team decided to put Hamilton and Charles Leclerc on soft slick tyres to avoid creating internal conflict, even though it absolutely destroyed Hamilton's race. The problem? Pretty much everyone else could see the circuit was still soaking wet.

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Here's what went down. Before the race, there was loads of debate about whether to start on slicks or intermediates. Some camera angles made it look dry enough for slicks, but reality told a different story. Ferrari went with the slicks for both their drivers, but Leclerc figured it out fast and pitted on lap three to switch to inters. Hamilton stayed out on the slicks way too long, getting absolutely mullered by drivers who'd made the switch earlier.

The kicker is that Hamilton had actually wanted intermediate tyres from the start. When he saw his rivals lining up with wets while he was on slicks, his heart absolutely sank. He knew his race was done before it even properly started. Hamilton later revealed he'd told the team the track was still wet when he looked at it before the formation lap, but Ferrari stuck to their guns anyway.

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Capelli thinks this shows a bigger problem at Ferrari. He reckons modern drivers have lost the ability to push back and impose their will on tyre decisions, even when they're the ones actually driving the car. Back in his day, drivers had a real say in these calls. Now it's all data and engineer discussions, but the driver's actual input seems to get lost in the noise. Whether you agree with Capelli or not, it's hard to argue Hamilton wasn't right about the conditions at Sepang.

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What makes it even stranger is that Ferrari seemingly chose a decision that helped neither driver. Leclerc had to recover from the wrong tyre choice, and Hamilton's race was basically over from the grid. It's one of those calls that looks dodgy in hindsight, and Hamilton's post-race reaction showed exactly how frustrated he was about being overruled on something so critical to his performance.

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