Formula 1: Max Verstappen enjoys the battle with Charles Leclerc this F1 2022 season and calls it respectful: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claims there is ‘more respect’ between him and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc with whom he is battling it out for the F1 2022 title. Meanwhile, the Dutch driver feels this was not the case when he was fighting it out for the F1 title with Lewis Hamilton in the last season. Follow Formula 1 & Belgian GP LIVE updates on InsideSport.IN
Verstappen was candid about his relationship with Leclerc and also said he is enjoying the on-track battle with the Monegasque driver this season. “I prefer what we have now because first of all, Charles, I know very well. He is a nice guy. We are a similar age, I think we are only three weeks apart, and also I think we are fighting a very well-respected competitor in terms of Ferrari. The way they go about it, the way we are fighting – if they win a race, we can go to them and say ‘well done’ and if we win a race, they can come to us and say ‘well done’,” Verstappen said.
“I really respect that and also certain people within the team, and even Mattia [Binotto], I have a really good relationship with him. On Saturday night, we even had a laugh in Paul Ricard and that is great because that is what racing should be about. We are hard competitors on the track and will always try to beat each other which I think is very normal, but outside of it, you can have a good time as well. That’s what I have really enjoyed about this year,” Verstappen added.
While the 2021 title battle slid into close turmoil, things have been more subtle this season. However, in truth, it is because the last year’s title battle was very close and this year things have panned out differently as Verstappen enjoys a healthy lead of 80 points over second-placed Charles Leclerc.
After 13/22 rounds 👀#HungarianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/Jqvyb3OBOb
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 31, 2022
Meanwhile, Leclerc has had more pole positions this year but due to his own fault, Ferrari’s engine reliability and the strategic errors made by the team have been the downfall for the Monegasque driver.
Whereas, on the other hand, Verstappen has won eight races so far in the F1 2022 season and looks more dominating on the track. It is because Red Bull got a hang of their own reliability issues early on in the season and since then they have not looked back.
Lastly, when Verstappen was asked about whether he missed having a friendly relationship with Lewis Hamilton in the last season to which the Dutch responded that the relationship between me and Hamilton and even Red Bull and Mercedes will not likely be on good terms in the coming future.
“Let’s say it like this, I would not be on a table on Saturday night having a laugh [with Mercedes]. The click we have at the moment, just in general, I have a lot of respect for Ferrari and it is nice,” Verstappen concluded.
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