Charles Leclerc isn’t interested in getting into a rivalry with Max Verstappen after recent battles.
The Dutchman got the upper hand in Austria, as he passed the Ferrari driver in the closing stages to claim victory, but the Monegasque responded in Silverstone with some aggressive duels only for strategy to again put the Red Bull in front.
In what could be considered the first exchanges between two drivers that could lead Formula 1 into the future, Leclerc insists he won’t change his approach to fight Verstappen.
“It’s the same. It doesn’t change for me who is in the car behind or in front, I focus on myself and try to be in the highest position possible,” he said.
“Of course once you are fighting with another driver, you need to learn how they fight to then fight with them.
“With Max, we know each other quite well from the karting days, we have grown quite a lot but I know he is an aggressive driver. You always adapt to your competitors.
“We’ve had some tricky moments back in the karting days,” he recalled. “It’s good. As I said, I think it’s good for the show, and hopefully, there will be many more of these ones in the future.”
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Leclerc then reflected on his relationship with Verstappen during his racing career, and how they have developed a respect for each other.
“I think it got quite a lot better with the years, back in karting we were not the best friends, but it is normal every time something happened that straightaway he would become my enemy and the same for him,” he explained.
“We were quite young, it was back in 2012 or 2013. We are still pretty young but we have matured quite a lot and now things have changed and we have managed to understand more the difference between us as people and us as drivers. It’s better.”