Charles Leclerc narrowly missed out on victory to Max Verstappen in Jeddah, but admitted that he really enjoyed his battle.
The 2022 Saudi Arabian GP produced yet another epic battle between Leclerc and Verstappen. Just two races into the season, the two are already being portrayed as Championship protagonists for the year.
An unlucky safety car early into the race led to Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez’s misfortune. The Mexican pitted right before the SC was deployed, and ended up losing positions to Leclerc, Verstappen and the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.
Since then, it was only Verstappen and Leclerc who had a shot at winning. The two remained close to each other with the Ferrari leading for the most of the race. Towards the end however, the Red Bull driver caught up and was within DRS range of Leclerc.
It wasn’t simple for the Dutchman, or for his rival. The two drivers kept interchanging lead, right until the 48th lap when the former got him for good.
In spite of the Red Bull overtaking Leclerc, it was a race to the finish, with less than a second separating the two at the chequered flag.
Charles Leclerc hopes for every single race to be as exciting as the 2022 Saudi Arabian GP
A track that had become infamous for it’s dangerous incidents, produced one of the closest races we have seen in the last few years. As soon as the race got over, Leclerc took to the team radio to acknowledge the amazing battle he had with Verstappen.
During the post race interview, he said that he hopes for the remaining races of the season to be just as exciting. The Monegasque was disappointed to lose out on the win, but enjoyed the race nevertheless.
“Oh my god! I really enjoyed that race,” the Ferrari driver said. “It’s hard racing but fair. Every race should be like this. It was fun, I’m of course disappointed, we wanted to win today.”
The 24-year old then praised and congratulated the 2021 Champion on his win. He admits that there’s always been respect between the two, and that they both appreciate hard and fair, wheel to wheel racing.
“It’s (Respect) always been there,” he continued. “Especially when you finish a race like this. We’re on 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 is respect.”
