Lewis Hamilton vs Charles Leclerc: Did ‘feisty’ battle at Chinese Grand Prix ignite Ferrari rivalry in 2026 F1 season? | F1 News

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc delivered a thrilling battle for the podium at the Chinese Grand Prix, which the seven-time world champion called the “best racing I’ve ever experienced in Formula 1”.

Hamilton and Leclerc demonstrated the best of F1’s new regulations with several overtakes and re-overtakes around the Shanghai International Circuit on Sunday, having also got close in Saturday’s Sprint too.

The pair remarkably only made minor contact once, or a “kiss” according to Hamilton, who came out on top to claim his first podium as a Ferrari driver.

“It felt like go-karting, back and forth, back and forth, and you could really position your car in a nice way where there was a thin piece of paper between us sometimes,” said Hamilton.

“But we didn’t exchange any paint. I think that’s down to great drivers and respect.”

George Russell had a front row seat for much of the battle, before finding a way past the Ferrari duo, and was amazed by how hard the racing was.

“I was just waiting for the two of them to collide and somehow they didn’t. It was some of the most aggressive racing I’ve seen for a while,” he said.

“If I wasn’t trying to win the race, I’d have been enjoying the battle, but obviously watching Kimi [Antonelli] pull away during those points it was a little bit annoying.”

Villeneuve questions if Ferrari fighting will cost them vs Mercedes

It was Leclerc who started the on-track battling on Sunday just before half distance of the 56-lap Chinese Grand Prix with both Ferraris in podium positions and Russell in fourth.

Although the Ferrari fight was exciting, the pair were not driving in an optimal way and Russell was able to get by when he had appeared stuck.

Sky Sports F1‘s Jacques Villeneuve thinks Hamilton and Leclerc both want to be “the man” at Ferrari, even if it means losing time to their rivals by battling.

“Lewis is feisty and fighting. He was quite cool, minding his own business, not letting Antonelli get away too far,” said the 1997 F1 world champion

“But then Leclerc decided not to play the team game and played the Leclerc game, caught him by surprise, but he should have seen it coming. The same thing happened in the Sprint.

“It turned out OK but it was a little bit extreme and destroyed Ferrari’s race. They were running second and third, fighting so hard, destroying their tyres.

“At some point, if you keep taking lap time away from each other, it allows Mercedes to get away and they are not that far from Mercedes with a car that can race. Mercedes should worry a little bit about Ferrari coming back because they are not that far behind in points.”

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur says he “trusts” his drivers and it would have been “unfair” to call the battle off.

“I have a huge respect for both of them. They are professional and I think it makes sense in this situation to let them race,” he said.

“I know perfectly that it can also look completely stupid half an hour later, but at the end of the day I think it’s also the best way to build up a team. We need to have this kind of emulation into the team to improve.

“As long as it’s done like it was done in China, even a couple of times in the radio they told us that they had good fun, I don’t want to freeze the position.”

Will Ferrari have problem of two evenly matches drivers?

Last year, Leclerc was clearly quicker than Hamilton for much of the season so Ferrari rarely had the problem of their drivers scrapping for the same piece of track.

The opening two races this year have shown Leclerc and Hamilton are much more evenly matched, so the team may need to step in if the drivers go over the limit, or face the awkwardness of a collision – something F1 history shows is an inevitability when team-mates are regularly fighting.

There was perhaps more eagerness in China between the Ferrari pair to be ahead of one another knowing there was a high chance of a Safety Car.

Earlier in the race, Leclerc had to stack behind Hamilton in the pit stops when most drivers pitted after Lance Stroll caused a Safety Car when he came to a halt.

The increased unreliability of the 2026 cars means drivers may suddenly pull over to the side of the track, therefore increasing the possibility of a Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car, where drivers may get a cheaper pit stop.

At the Miami Grand Prix, on one of the few occasions last year when the Ferraris were battling, the team were slow to deploy team orders when Hamilton appeared faster and was stuck behind Leclerc.

The British driver stated “have a tea break while you’re at it” on the team radio during one of the heated exchanges with his engineer Riccardo Adami.

But, Hamilton has appeared to be much happier with his new race engineer Carlo Santi, who has been appointed on an interim basis.

“I think I came into the season with the confidence that I used to have, and I think I’ve stuck at it,” said Hamilton.

“It’s the hardest thing just to get a podium compared to a lot through my career and it was the biggest challenge to get that, and I just had to bide my time. I think coming into the season I really cultivated that really positive mental attitude and I’m taking that forward with me.”

If Hamilton continues his strong start to 2026, he will be confident of a spectacular first victory in red. However, a fast Hamilton will give Ferrari a headache, albeit a nice one, as their two drivers will surely end up battling more – but it cannot be to the detriment of losing out to Mercedes.

Formula 1 next heads to the iconic Suzuka Circuit for the Japanese Grand Prix on March 27-29 live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime