Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc receives a warning and some advice after his latest duel with Max Verstappen for F1 championship. Leclerc made a mistake at Imola that he must not repeat, according to Damon Hill, as he looks set to battle Max Verstappen for the world Formula One title.

After an impressive battle with Lewis Hamilton last year, Max Verstappen won his first world title with a controversial last race in Abu Dhabi. And this year, with Mercedes on the back foot (for now), the Red Bull driver looks set to duel with Charles Leclerc, at least in the early part of this F1 season. The Monegasque won in Bahrain and Australia, and finished second in Saudi Arabia, twice taking advantage of Max Verstappen’s mechanical problems to give the Ferrari driver a 25-point lead in the overall standings after just four races.

However, at Imola, Charles Leclerc made his first mistake of the season by being too aggressive as he passed Sergio Pérez. As a result, while he could have easily claimed a podium finish, the world championship leader had to be content with sixth place, losing out on major points in the title race to Max Verstappen, winner at Imola. Consequently, before the Miami Grand Prix, Damon Hill clearly warned Charles Leclerc.

“I hope he has learned his lesson” warns Hill,

“Charles had the opportunity to increase his lead over Max at Imola and he blew it. His move was too ambitious, he was too greedy. When he started to turn, I could see right away that he was overdoing it, and he went off…

“I wasn’t the one driving, and I wasn’t even in the car but I could see on TV that he was overdriving. I knew right away that it wasn’t going to happen, and a split second later he was spinning. He probably thought he was going to attack by going over the rumble strips, but that was too ambitious,

“He shouldn’t have taken so many risks. These are things you can’t afford as a top driver, especially when you’re fighting for the title. I hope he has learned his lesson,” said the 1996 World Champion.