Lewis Hamilton makes his feelings known about his wheel-to-wheel battle with Charles Leclerc during the F1 Qatar GP Sprint
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton said that his wheel-to-wheel battle with future Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was "super fair" at the Sprint race in the 2024 F1 Qatar Grand Prix on Saturday, November 30. The seven-time F1 world champion made an excellent gateway off the line from P7 as he passed both Verstappen and Leclerc to move into P5.
Hamilton started to put pressure on the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz in the initial laps of the Sprint race but was unable to sustain it and fell back into the clutches of Leclerc. After getting in the DRS, Leclerc made an audacious move into Turn 1 and went wheel-to-wheel for several corners.
Lewis Hamilton did try to get back at the Monegasque into the fast double right-hander before the braking zone in Turn 6 but to no avail. Speaking with Sky Sports about the battle in his post-Sprint interview, the Mercedes driver said:
“I don’t really remember racing Charles, much," Hamilton said. "I don’t recall many battles that we’ve had. But it was super fair, I think we both were. I should’ve blocked him and tried and keep him behind but I didn’t. If I’m in the same position tomorrow then it won’t happen. I’m hoping with the changes I made, I’ll be having a bit more pace tomorrow."
While Hamilton finished the Sprint race at P6, his teammate Russell managed a P3, behind the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who wrapped up P2 and P1, respectively.
Charles Leclerc gives his take on battle with Lewis Hamilton
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc said his battle with Lewis Hamilton during the Sprint race on Saturday night was "on the limit" and "fun." The eight-time race winner mentioned their car setups being the difference maker at the Lusail International Circuit and said (via F1.com):
“I was really struggling to get close on the straights. I think we maybe ran a different configuration of cars. Lewis was fast on the straights, and I was quite fast in the corners but that was mostly based on car characteristics. It made it very difficult to be as close as I wanted for Turn 1 but I had one opportunity and I went for it," LeClerc said.
"I know it’s a very important time of our season – we’ve got the fight with McLaren that seems to have the advantage for now. Every point is super important so I tried everything. I passed, it was on the limit but it was fun. Then I had a really good pace but with our starting position it was difficult to do anything better,” he added.
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will once again start side-by-side for the main race on Sunday as the former qualified in P5 while the Mercedes driver qualified a place behind him.
The duo have had their share of fair but intense battles during the 2022 Silverstone and 2019 Monza, with both drivers giving each other the deserved space.