Vasseur praises Hamilton and Leclerc for 'professional' Ferrari intra-team battle in China

Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur has praised drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc for their "professional" fight in the Chinese Grand Prix, adding such battles are "the best way to build up a team".

Hamilton and Leclerc engaged in a thrilling and frenetic intra-team duel during Sunday's race at the Shanghai International Circuit, the pair having briefly challenged Mercedes at the front of the field.

The pair ran side-by-side on several occasions, with Hamilton eventually getting the upper hand and claiming his maiden Grand Prix podium for Ferrari with Leclerc fourth.

The seven-time World Champion described it as "one of the most enjoyable races I've had", with Leclerc adding he "enjoyed" the battle.

"Huge respect for both of them," said Vasseur when asked about letting his drivers fight. "They are professional and I think it makes sense in this situation to let them race.

"At end of the day, I think it's also the best way to build up a team and we need to have this kind of relation in the team to improve. As long as it's done like it was done today, even a couple of times on the radio they told us they had good fun, but I don't want to freeze the position."

While Ferrari were able to challenge Mercedes at points in the race, both Hamilton and Leclerc ultimately fell away from race winner Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.

Vasseur admits "we are pushing like hell on every single area to close the gap", and that all areas of Ferrari's SF-26 needed to be improved – not just the power unit.

"For sure we'd prefer to be a bit faster. It is like it is today. We know that we have a deficit of performance in the straight line, we have to work on it," said Vasseur.

"We are improving because we were eight-tenths off in Melbourne, six-tenths on Friday, four-tenths on Saturday. Step-by-step we are understanding a bit more the situation and closing the gap but they are still far away.

"It's not just about engine, we have to work everywhere to improve the chassis, the tyres. Like always, racing doesn't change, all the components of the performance are still on the table and we don't have to be focused on one parameter but it's a challenge."