Charles Leclerc went “almost over the edge” in aggressive Lewis Hamilton fight, says Jacques Villeneuve

Jacques Villeneuve believes Charles Leclerc was overly aggressive towards Lewis Hamilton during Ferrari’s Chinese sprint race battle

1997 Formula 1 champion Jacques Villeneuve has argued that Charles Leclerc was too aggressive with his Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton during the Chinese sprint race.

Ferrari had another strong start in the sprint race, with Hamilton going from fourth to second before taking the lead on the second lap. The opening stages of the race saw an intense battle between Hamilton and his former Mercedes team-mate.

With Leclerc close behind in third, the Monegasque driver began to put pressure on Hamilton on lap 6. Leclerc overtook Hamilton on lap 8 into the first corner, with the Briton suffering from tyre graining as a result of the battle with Russell.

The two Ferraris continued to battle for a couple of laps. Leclerc and Hamilton ultimately finished the sprint race in second and third, respectively.

"Well, Charles was pushing. Lewis really had genuine pace early on, then obviously was aggressive because once you're in the lead, you can kind of control it," Villeneuve told Sky Sports F1.

"So he was trying to stay in the lead there. I found Charles very aggressive in his defence against Lewis. That was a little bit almost over the edge, I would say, because Lewis didn't fight him off meanly; it was very clean. Then Charles was pushing him off the track, which was a little bit tough."

Asked if Ferrari could make the fight with Mercedes last longer during Sunday's race if they can get a good start again, the former driver added: "They seem to be able to do it every time they get on the track. That energy that they have in the first few laps, they will have it, and even more so with full tanks; it will be more apparent then.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images

"But I think George has learned a lot today from that race, to try not to get caught out again. And [Kimi] Antonelli has to work on his racecraft because that's too many mistakes from a car that should finish, at worst, second. But it's not just the start, it's the whole first lap more or less, if not more than that.

"And I think George kind of said, I think Lewis caught him out a little bit. I think George got through Turn 1, which he thought was going to be the issue, probably felt like, 'Right, OK, I'm gone now,' and didn't even look in his mirrors. He would have seen Lewis fly past him.

"And what was interesting for me with George was he was checking his mirror and checking left so much when Lewis passed him, because the speed differential is so different now. It's not like you pass a car and you know exactly where that car is, you don't really know because they've got such differences in the way that they're approaching their deployment and the battery.

"So I think tomorrow he will have learned, especially George. But it's not just the first lap; it's the first maybe three, four laps he needs to worry about."