'Lewis Hamilton checkmate!' F1 fans react after Ferrari star's 'blunder'

Leclerc, Hamilton, socials — Photo: © IMAGO

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'Lewis Hamilton checkmate!' F1 fans react after Ferrari star's 'blunder'

Hamilton and Leclerc rivalry translated off the track

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Sunday 21 September 2025 22:56

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Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s chess saga has continued after the F1 team-mates were treated to a masterclass from grandmaster Teimour Radjabov at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Fierce rivals? Inter-team spats? Ferrari fans didn’t know what to expect between Hamilton and Leclerc when they were announced as team-mates, but the duo quickly proved this wasn’t going to be a more light-hearted F1 pairing.

During F1’s live launch earlier this year, Hamilton and Leclerc were spotted playing online chess in the crowd, in a video that subsequently went viral on social media and has spiralled into a season long rivalry.

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In later interviews, Leclerc and Hamilton confirmed the intensity of their chess rivalry, with the champion claiming he couldn’t go to sleep while they were on a draw, and even admitted to them both cheating.

"So I found this website, and it started showing you, it'll predict what you should do next. So I started using it,” Hamilton revealed at a fan event in Bahrain.

"I used it for one move, and then his moves were so good coming back, I just kept using it, and he goes, 'wait a second, are we both cheating?'

"And he had started using that app at the same time!”

Hamilton and Leclerc no longer have an excuse to cheat however, after they were given a masterclass by a chess grandmaster in Baku.

Hamilton and Leclerc schooled by chess grandmaster

Ahead of the weekend's action in Baku, Ferrari posted a clip to social media where Azerbaijani chess grandmaster Teimour Radjabov helped the pair improve their chess game.

Radjabov earned the title of Grandmaster in 2001 at the young age of 14, and at the time he was the second-youngest grandmaster in history.

In the video, Hamilton used an opening taught by Radjabov, protecting a pawn with a knight before Leclerc made an instant blunder and lost the pawn for free.

Fans were quick to react in the comments section, where one user wrote: “Charles instantly blundering.”

Another added: “Checkmate Lewis. Me and you.”

For those unacquainted with the rules of chess, a helpful fan pointed out the error in the comments, which read: “Hamilton protected a pawn with his knight, and Charles just gave it away for free…”

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