Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur defended their decision to allow Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to fight for position in the Chinese Grand Prix.
The pair spent several laps attacking and defending, during which time their pace dropped, allowing race leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli to pull away. Hamilton and Leclerc briefly touched at one point but Vasseur said he did not want to tell them to hold positions and stop fighting.
“I trust both of them and I didn’t want to ask them to freeze the positions, because that would have been unfair,” said Vasseur. “They are professionals and today’s battle was good for the team and good for the sport.”
Hamilton eventually emerged ahead and took third place, achieving his first podium finish as a Ferrari driver.
“That battle with Charles at the end was awesome,” he said. “A great wheel-to-wheel battle, very fair and just what we want.”
“I think there was one moment we did touch, but it was subtle, just a kiss, so it’s okay,” he added. “But that’s what this is about. It’s about tough racing.”
The pair fought a similarly tight battle in Saturday’s sprint race. Leclerc finished ahead on that occasion but indicated he was not happy with how close they got at times, telling his race engineer it was “a shame there was a bit more fighting than what I would have hoped.”
However Leclerc was content after finishing fourth behind Hamilton on Sunday. “I actually really enjoyed the race,” he said. “I’m of course a little bit disappointed to lose out on the podium but on the other hand I’m happy for Lewis.
“I think he deserves it more than I do on a weekend like this where he’s been more on top of things than me and just has been stronger since FP1 to now. But it was a very nice race, I enjoyed the fights.”
“The only big negative I would say is the gap to Mercedes,” Leclerc added. “On a day like this we can see that they are a big step ahead of everyone, so we’ve got to work hard.”
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2026 Chinese Grand Prix
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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 – when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring journalist, Keith began running the site full-time in 2010, achieving a long-held ambition to dedicate his full attention to his passion for motor racing. View all posts by Keith Collantine