Ferrari teammates Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc had their own personal battle during last weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.

George Russell finished second with Lewis Hamilton in third in the Chinese Grand Prix. (Image: Getty)

A radio message from George Russell to his Mercedes team, which was not picked up by television, has shown his surprise at Charles Leclerc’s driving during the Chinese Grand Prix.

It comes after there seemed to be an ongoing battle between Ferrari teammates Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton throughout the race. It was Hamilton who eventually came out on top with the Brit claiming his first podium finish for the team.

Hamilton finished the race in third place behind the Mercedes pair of Kimi Antonelli and Russell. The latter overtook both Ferrari drivers on his way to a second-place finish.

It was when he was behind the two on Lap 24, that radio audio has been uncovered. With Russell watching from behind, Leclerc overtook Hamilton on the inside into turn 14, but then delayed his acceleration, forcing his teammate to slow up behind him.

Russell was also caught up in the incident, having to steer out of the way. On the radio, Russell said: “What’s Leclerc doing?”

George Russell finished ahead of both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc (Image: Getty)

His race engineer, Marcus Dudley, replied with: “Lewis will have overtake.” Russell then added: “Leclerc just backed up Lewis in the train.”

At one stage in the race, Leclerc commented on his enjoyment of the battle, saying on the team radio: “This is actually quite a fun battle.”

Speaking in his post-race press conference, Russell spoke of his surprise that the racing didn’t result in a crash. “Well, I was just waiting for the two of them to collide and somehow they didn’t,” he said.

“It was some of the most aggressive racing I’ve seen for a while.

“If I wasn’t trying to win the race, I’d have been enjoying the battle, but obviously watching Kimi pull away during those points it was a little bit annoying.

“But Ferrari definitely very quick. They’re quicker in the corners than us, slower than us on the straight, so it just made it a little bit challenging.

“And when you’re trying to get past two of them at the same point, that wasn’t straightforward.”

The battle between the drivers will resume in Japan on Sunday, 29 March at the Suzuka Circuit.