Max Verstappen explains why Charles Leclerc rivalry feels ‘natural’

The Red Bull driver also said “it’s nice to see two young guys competing for victories”

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen looks on as a fire in his car is extinguished during the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, which was won by Ferarri’s Charles Leclerc (AP)

Max Verstappen admits that his rivalry with Charles Leclerc is “more natural” than that with Lewis Hamilton due to the history he has with the Ferrari driver.

The Dutchman competed against Leclerc as teenagers in karting before their battles in Formula One. The pair famously locked horns back in 2019 when at the Austrian Grand Prix, Verstappen stole the Monegasque’s first victory on the final lap.

Verstappen and Leclerc enjoyed clean duels for victory at the first two rounds of the 2022 season, with the Ferrari man coming out on top in Bahrain and the Red Bull driver fighting back in Saudi Arabia.

Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Verstappen said: “Every driver is different, in the way they attack or defend. That’s why you always have to go into the fight in a unique way.

“It feels natural to compete against drivers that I have competed against in the past in karts and have now come to F1. In particular Charles, it’s nice to see that we are two young guys competing for victories – we’ve fought some nice duels so far.”

Last month, Team Principal of Red Bull, Christian Horner, pointed towards the clear respect between the two drivers.

“You’re seeing two fantastic young drivers going head-to-head in competitive F1 cars, and the racing in the first two races has been phenomenal,” said Horner, who has won nine world titles.

“You can see there’s a respect between the two of them and the sample of the first two races has been really exciting.”

Verstappen and Leclerc have been battling on the track (Getty Images)

This year, Formula One analysts have repeatedly claimed that Verstappen has been less aggressive with Leclerc than he was with Hamilton last season. In battles, Verstappen has appeared more calm and calculated in passing opportunities.

It comes after an incident-packed 2021 title race that saw Verstappen and Hamilton collide on several occasions, and end in controversial fashion.

Sky Sports pundit Karun Chandhok said Verstapepn wanted to establish himself as “number one” last season, a pressure he doesn’t face so far in 2022.

He said: “The way he was more aggressive with Lewis last year, I watched the first two races and they were going ding dong. As if he was trying to establish himself with Lewis. Whereas with Charles they are peers.

“I think there was an element of him knowing Lewis was the benchmark, Lewis has been the best driver of his generation now. For Max, it was a chance to establish himself as a World Champion and the number one.”

Red Bull’s Vertsappen gave his take on the rivalry between Hamilton and Mercedes last season which ended in him winning his first Drivers World Championship.

“I think in the fight between me and Hamilton, the conflict between Red Bull and Mercedes played an important role,” said Verstappen.

“In addition to everything that happened during the championship, that also inspired the confrontation on the track.”