An early collision between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton cost Ferrari valuable pace, leaving the team to salvage what could’ve been much more.
Ferrari’s Chinese Grand Prix didn’t quite go to plan. Charles Leclerc finished in P5—a result that fell short of the team’s early weekend promise. To make matters worse, he was involved in an early-race clash with Lewis Hamilton, which damaged his front wing and cost him performance, though fortunately, the incident wasn’t race-ending.
“Honestly, it wasn’t Lewis’ fault at all,” Leclerc admitted. “I was trying to position myself for Turn 3 and thought he’d stay on the outside. He didn’t see me, and we touched. That’s not something you want, especially between teammates, but it was just a misunderstanding. Thankfully, it didn’t ruin the race for both of us.”
He added, “It’s not the first time something like this happens—and it won’t be the last. It’s just unfortunate it was between the two Ferraris. There was no bad intent, but it ended up costing me quite a lot.”
Despite continuing the race, Leclerc revealed he was dealing with a significant loss in performance:
“We lost around 30 or 40 points of downforce, which is huge. The encouraging part is that we still had decent pace even with the damage, but it’s frustrating because we missed an opportunity.”
So why didn’t Ferrari swap out the damaged wing during the first pit stop?
“We didn’t want to lose eight seconds in the pits,” Leclerc explained. “That would’ve put us behind cars we’d struggle to overtake—especially in Turn 12, where we were already weak. In the end, I think it was the right call.”
Leclerc pointed to Ferrari’s weak qualifying as the root of their early-season struggles:
“Lewis was very quick in the Sprint but less so in the race. We made some changes, and I felt better in the race, but we’re still off in qualifying. That’s where we need to focus.”
He continued, “Starting fifth or sixth puts you on the back foot. Tire management becomes tougher, and you can’t show your full race pace. Last year, qualifying was our strong suit—it’s slipped away, and we need to bring that back without going too far in the other direction.”
Hamilton Reflects on Tough Race After Setup Gamble Backfires
Lewis Hamilton, who finished sixth, was also left frustrated after struggling to keep up with the pace of the front runners. He revealed that setup changes made after the Sprint race backfired badly.
“I felt good going into the race, and I had a strong start,” said Hamilton. “But I just didn’t have the pace to keep up.”
He explained that changes made to the car’s balance ended up making things worse:
“We tweaked the setup after the Sprint, and honestly, the car felt terrible afterward. I couldn’t get it under control in qualifying or today’s race.”
Asked whether he could take positives from the weekend despite the issues, Hamilton responded optimistically:
“Absolutely. It’s a valuable lesson. Hopefully, we won’t make the same mistake again. There’s still a lot to learn with this car, but there were definitely some good takeaways.”
He concluded, “Yes, we’re losing points to McLaren, Mercedes, and Max [Verstappen], but we just have to keep pushing.”
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Ferrari’s China Clash: Leclerc and Hamilton Tangle Early Ferrari’s China Clash: Leclerc and Hamilton Tangle Early
