Chinese Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton vs Charles Leclerc just got spicy

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton stand in front of an edited cracked Ferrari badge — Photo: © IMAGO

Chinese Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton vs Charles Leclerc just got spicy at the Chinese Grand Prix

Leclerc and Hamilton came close to contact in Shanghai

Chris Deeley

Saturday 14 March 2026 23:59

The new F1 season isn't even two weeks old yet, but already Ferrari team-mates Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have had a heated on-track tussle.

Hamilton was fighting George Russell for the lead for the first four or five laps, but eventually faded back into the clutches of his team-mate – at which point he made it rather harder for Leclerc to effect an overtake than the Monegasque appeared to expect.

Leclerc got ahead into Turn 1, only to find a big red car switching back under him into Turn 2, pushing him onto the kerbs on the inside of Turn 3 to avoid potentially catastrophic contact.

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Leclerc then got his elbows out on the exit, forcing his way back into second place – which he held for the rest of the race distance.

Leclerc: Argh!

A late safety car closed the field up, leading to a restart with just three laps remaining, at which Leclerc hoped that he could give Russell a good run for the race win. Instead, he got a massive snap of oversteer coming out of the penultimate corner towards the start/finish line and lost his chance before it had even arrived.

After the sprint, he explained: “I think the tyres were a little bit colder than what I expected. I saw George actually having a snap. And I was like, ‘Okay, this is probably my opportunity to take the lead’.

“I tried to go a bit more aggressive on throttle, but I had the same rear grip as George, so I nearly lost it, but luckily didn’t completely lose it.”

Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Charles Leclerc Chinese Grand Prix