Charles Leclerc wasn’t impressed with Lewis Hamilton’s lack of spatial awareness as they battled for the chance to challenge George Russell for the Sprint win in China.
The Ferrari teammates came up short, with Russell taking the win six-tenths ahead of Leclerc with Hamilton 1.8s down on the sister Ferrari.
Charles Leclerc questions Lewis Hamilton ‘space’ in Ferrari Sprint fight
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Although Russell made a good getaway off the line in the 19-lap Shanghai Sprint, Hamilton’s was better as he stormed from fourth to snatch the lead from the Mercedes driver into Turn 8.
The two engaged in a back-and-forth battle that allowed Leclerc, who had started from sixth place on the grid, to close in before sticking his nose into the battle for the first time on Lap 5.
The Ferrari drivers then went wheel-to-wheel for second place, with Leclerc gaining the advantage on Lap 8 as he powered past at Turn 1. The battle, though, was by no means over as Hamilton tried to come back at his teammate and squeezed the Monegasque driver.
Leclerc was not impressed.
Leclerc was on the radio: “Argh, the space! Does he know how wide these cars are, or not?
“Then he can complain about Turn 3, that’s okay.”
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Leclerc finished the Sprint in second place, 0.674s behind Russell.
The Monegasque driver was on the radio to his race engineer Bryan Bozzi to ask why he didn’t have the power to attack Russell.
“What happened?” he questioned. “Why did I not have the full power?”
Bozzi replied: “You used all.”
Interviewed after the Sprint, Leclerc revealed the re-start after the Safety Car for Nico Hulkenberg’s stricken Audi was his moment to challenge Russell for the lead, but, going a bit too aggressive, he instead had wheelspin and lost time to the Briton.
“I think the tyres were a little bit colder than what I expected,” he said. “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.”
Leclerc remains third in the Drivers’ standings although he’s now tied with Antonelli on 22 points. Russell leads with 33.
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