“I hope we continue to fight like in Bahrain & Jeddah,” Max Verstappen laughs off Charles Leclerc incident during karting days


“I hope we continue to fight like in Bahrain & Jeddah,” Max Verstappen laughs off Charles Leclerc incident during karting days

Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc

Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc have gone head to head in the first two races of this season, with Verstappen getting the better of Leclerc in Saudi Arabia, while Leclerc won the season opener. This battle seems likely to go on throughout the season, hopefully providing some of the most intense and jaw dropping ‘on track action’ for the fans all around the world.

ADVERTISEMENT

Leclerc and Verstappen have come a long way, right from Karting to now in Formula 1. The duo has seen it all and battled for glory at all stages in their career. No one can ever forget the infamous Karting incident between the two, where both had some heated interviews. While Verstappen believed that it was completely ’unfair’, Leclerc had a completely different opinion. “I’m leading, he wants to pass, he pushed me, I pushed him back and after he pushed me off the track, it’s not fair huh?”, said Leclerc.

With the duo being on top of their games, they can proudly laugh at such an incident in the past.

“I think the incident with Charles was in 2012. It‘s a long time ago. Back then, we weren‘t best friends. But now we can laugh about it. Sometimes the karting times were tough, but now that we both are in F1 fighting for wins, that‘s just great,” said Verstappen.

ADVERTISEMENT

Max Verstappen expects a great battle with Charles Leclerc in 2022

Max Verstappen vs Charles Leclerc

After some healthy competition in the first two races, the entire fan base of Formula 1 can only expect more from the duo while enjoying the true display of sportsmanship and respect off track. Max Verstappen hopes to have a healthy duel with Charles Leclerc this season, just like in the season openers in Bahrain and Jeddah.

I hope we continue to fight like in Bahrain & Jeddah,” said Verstappen.

Even Charles Leclerc acknowledges the rivalry with Max Verstappen and said, ”It’s always been there [the respect], especially when you finish a race like this, we are in a street track, we’ve been pushing like I’ve rarely pushed before, to the absolute limit, and we take risks at the end so of course there’s respect.

Ferrari and Red Bull have aced the game of upgrades and have managed to bring out a car on the grid which is worthy of getting them closer to the title. With an ample amount of time left in the season and maybe a surprise in the form of new upgrades from Mercedes, the title is up for grabs.

ADVERTISEMENT

Also Read: Australia GP: Charles Leclerc back on top in FP2 ahead of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz