F1 Chinese Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc collide as world champion retires

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc for Ferrari in 2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

Chinese Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc collide at Chinese GP as world champion retires

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc collided

Originally written by Sam Cook. This version is a translation.

Sunday 23 March 2025 08:45

New Ferrari team-mates Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have come together for the first time on the same team, with the latter running with damage for the rest of the race.

Both Scuderia drivers got past Max Verstappen into Turn 1 and were fighting over fourth place when Leclerc bounced off a kerb and clipped his team-mate's car with his front wing, knocking his own end-plate off.

Both drivers continued on in the race, in fourth and fifth position, as Oscar Piastri managed to maintain his position at the front of the pack on lap one of the race.

Article continues under video

Fernando Alonso suffered a brake issue, and trundled back to the pits to retire his Aston Martin car in the early stages of the race, but all 19 other drivers made it through the first few laps.

Hamilton and Leclerc make contact

Ferrari have not had the best start to the season, clearly lacking pace to both McLaren and Mercedes, although Hamilton managed to claim his first win with the team during the Chinese GP sprint race.

Leclerc's front wing was damaged by the lap one incident with Hamilton, but he did not need to come into the pits immediately to replace it, and was showcasing some good pace behind his team-mate in the first stint.

Both drivers had a difficult main race qualifying, and were struggling to keep up with the Mercedes of George Russell, and the McLarens out in front.

F1 HEADLINES: Max Verstappen facing race suspension as champion silences his critics

Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Mercedes McLaren Charles Leclerc