Vasseur: Ferrari should have started on intermediates at Sepang

Ferrari recovered to third and fourth at Sepang after starting both cars on soft slicks in mixed conditions. After Sunday's race, team principal Fred Vasseur acknowledged that intermediates would have been the better choice. The team had expected the track to dry quickly and made its call with the information available at the time, he said.

Vasseur estimated that about half the field had chosen slicks and half wet-weather tyres. Lewis Hamilton qualified second, then fell to P17 and a minute behind the leaders on the first lap. Ferrari offered him the option to pit; he chose to stay on the softs and recovered to third. Vasseur praised Hamilton's long soft-tyre stint and tyre management.

Charles Leclerc had a different setback: contact with Nico Hulkenberg at the start left him with a puncture and front-wing damage. A slow stop for intermediates and a new wing left him last; he fought back to fourth.

The final positions also reflected late developments. George Russell's retirement moved both Ferraris up one place, while a late battery issue hampered Isack Hadjar's defence. Vasseur said he could not know what an intermediate start might have produced: Ferrari would have had 20 cars to pass rather than run at the front.