Charles Leclerc thinks that both he and Lewis Hamilton were not responsible for their crash at the beginning of the Chinese Grand Prix.

Leclerc thinks that Ferrari should expect more conflicts between their drivers before the current season ends.

Will Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc See More Crashes Ahead?

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Hamilton
During the initial lap of the race as they navigated Turns 2 and 3, Leclerc bumped into Hamilton’s teammate, Vettel, losing part of his front wing endplate in the process. The team calculated this damage resulted in a loss of “about 20 to 30 points” of downforce.

Even though Leclerc still maintained a speed edge over Hamilton throughout most of the race after that point, he thinks he experienced the impact of the damage sustained earlier. Further battles might be awaiting the Ferrari drivers down the line.

“Honestly, it’s not at all Lewis’s responsibility,” Leclerc stated.

Sky F1

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And from my end, I was maneuvering within the inner part of the track, attempting to get into position for Turn 3, and Lewis wasn’t aware I was there. I hadn’t anticipated that Lewis would swing back to take the apex when he was on the outer side.

Once again, this is a racing incident. It won’t be the only time this occurs.

It’s regrettable that this occurred between the two red vehicles, but clearly neither of us had any ill intent. Therefore, it was an unfortunate incident, which understandably set me back significantly for the remainder of the race.

Leclerc decided against changing the damaged front wing. When asked if he wanted to make the switch, he responded: “Absolutely. It’s clear that we’re looking at significant performance losses with this setup, so there was definitely room for considerable improvement.”

We chose not to spend the eight seconds during the pit stop replacing the front wing since that would mean having to pass multiple cars.

And our performance was quite poor at Turn 12, which left us exposed to attacks from the vehicles following us. Additionally, it became extremely challenging to execute any passes since leading up to Turn 14, we had fallen too far behind.

So I didn’t want to take that chance. All I wanted was to maintain my position at that time and aim to get the best possible outcome. We performed quite well, yes, but it’s disappointing because of the damage.

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Despite the front-wing damage, Leclerc continued to perform well, whereas Hamilton’s speed diminished. In response, Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur commented that this was a “complex” situation to interpret as it unfolded.

“It has been quite a challenging day,” he confessed, talking to

Sky F1

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It’s quite bizarre since on one part of the garage, despite the harm to the front wing, our speed seemed promising, which I believe is positive, and overall a decent outcome. However, it was far more challenging for Lewis.

He had an exceptionally productive day of management yesterday, but we are finding it much harder to keep up with the speed today.

Challenging to comprehend and peruse.

But we can also look at the positives from Charles’ performance and the speed he maintained.

Tell him that Hamilton’s disappearing sprint race-winning form likely came down to tire issues, Vasseur replied: “I don’t wish to single out anyone or assign blame.”

“However, we must also improve our efforts and gain a deeper understanding.”

We all use the same tires, yet everything remains on the limit. During the race, we observed moments when Max [Verstappen] faced difficulties, only to recover later and then face challenges again. Once you move out of the optimal range, it becomes significantly harder.

Leclerc crossed the finish line at P5 after being passed by Red Bull’s Verstappen, placing Hamilton in P6. However, both Ferrari drivers were later disqualified, leading to significant issues.

For Leclerc, it was because his Ferrari SF-25 failed the FIA’s standard post-race weight check. Meanwhile, the underfloor plank on Hamilton’s Ferrari surpassed the allowed limit of wear.

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