Lewis Hamilton joked that he has no plans to visit a casino with Ferrari's strategists after they gambled -- and lost -- on using slick tyres at the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia on Sunday.
The race, hosted at Malaysia's Sepang International Circuit, was delayed by a rainstorm ahead of the start and then pushed back even further by an FIA software issue across all cars.
Once racing finally got underway, Hamilton dropped from second place to 16th on the opening lap as he struggled for grip on a wet surface while rivals on intermediate tyres sailed past his Ferrari.
The seven-time world champion said he questioned Ferrari's decision to opt for slicks before the restart and knew he was in trouble when Max Verstappen ahead of him and the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli behind emerged from the pits on intermediates.
Hamilton fought back through the field to third place at the finish, but in the opening laps thought his race was over.
"There was such a long wait [before the start] and we were debating on what tyre to go on to," Hamilton said. "And I said, 'Look, there was a lot of spray on the laps to the grid.' And I went into the pit lane, I looked at the ground, I was like, 'It's still wet.'
"I went to the pit wall and I was like, 'It's still wet.' And they're like, 'Yeah, but because it's been so long, it's definitely going to dry up real quick and maybe we're already in the crossover.' So anyways, as a team, we ended up taking that soft and when we were at the end of the pit lane and these two took off their blankets and they're on inters, we were in trouble.
"As we pulled out, all the spray came out the back of Max's car and I was like, 'OK, I'm done. My race is really in trouble.' So I mean, he didn't make it around on the formation lap, so then we just had to stick with it. Like, we've made the decision and live with it.
"And I think then, through that, as everyone's overtaken me, they're like, 'We stop,' because I know we've already made another 26 seconds. What's the difference from that with one minute 40 or whatever I was down? So I was just, 'Let's just wait it out for the track to dry.'
"And once it did, it felt good that I was catching people. The car felt great then after that. Really good pit stops from my guys in the garage and then good strategy. But for us to get back to the podium, I never thought that that was going to be the case.
"But, of course, I'm really, really grateful that we managed to get back here."
When Ferrari was trying to convince Hamilton to return to the pits for intermediate tyres, he responded over team radio by saying he wanted to stick with the slick-tyre "gamble" and wait for the track to dry.
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Asked about the message after the race, he joked: "Yeah, I'm not going to go to the casino with the guys!"
While he praised his team for the fightback during the race, Hamilton made clear that he felt a shot at victory had slipped away as a result of the tyre decision at the start of the race.
"We'll definitely have an open dialogue," Hamilton added. "And, you know, I'm really so proud of my team. The mechanics every weekend, just the work they're putting in, the engineers that accompany here every weekend, the catering, everyone really, really comes and gives it their best.
"Their heart's all in the right spot. We've definitely got areas that we need to improve and we know that, and we're not in any denial of that. So I think we'll have a constructive chat, we'll regroup, we'll take the positives from this weekend, which the car was really good, and we'll come back next week fighting.
"I thought today, as I said, was a chance for us potentially to try and fight Max for the win, but maybe we can do that next week."
