Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were opponents years before making their mark in F1. The 2022 championship contenders have always been nostalgic in remembering their rivalry from their karting days as juniors. Ruthless competitors then, Leclerc was a hostile man before his F1 media training got to him.
In an old interview, Leclerc disregards his Dutch opponent, giving him the cold shoulder and refusing to acknowledge his experience. Although the two drivers portrayed the exemplar of healthy competition last season, there was clearly once a time when not everything was sunshine and rainbows.
Charles Leclerc roasts Max Verstappen
In the resurfaced interview, Leclerc was asked if he faced stiff competition from any of the other drivers on the grid. Talking about being less experienced than the other drivers, the young Monegasque explained, “All of them have more experience than me, except for Verstappen, but this is how we work.”
Never tell Charles that Max has more experience than him☝🏻 pic.twitter.com/D218iklogq
— tati ☁️ (@f1tati) April 20, 2023
A catty jab from Leclerc, the future of Ferrari had begun his karting career when he was 8 years old. Max Verstappen, on the other hand, was only 6 when he first began karting competitively.
However, there is no real competition for experience between the two. Both prodigies with motorsport coursing through their veins, Leclerc and Verstappen grew up surrounded by the smell of motor oil and the sound of cars on a track.
Born for the sport, the two wunderkinds of their teams have proven to be the faces of the next generation of F1. With Charles Leclerc being the only hope to bring the championship back to Maranello, and Max Verstappen putting Red Bull back on the map; the two titans of the sport have so much more to bring.
Leclerc v Verstappen’s heated karting days
Back when they were younger, the two ambitious drivers had a lot of bad blood between them. Leclerc had opened up on their rivalry, stating that the two hated each other back then.
“In karting, it was either me or him and that’s why we hated each other at one point because very often it didn’t end in the best way possible.”
Now older and wiser, Leclerc has come to appreciate the differences that once divided the drivers in the past. “In which parts we are stronger or not (as drivers), I don’t know. We just have two very different styles of driving. In some days one will win, in some the other will. But I like it.”
Although the two haven’t been labeled competitors so far in the season, Leclerc sits at P10 while Verstappen enjoys being at the top of the scoreboard. However, only three races are notched off. With the rest of the season remaining, hopefully, Ferrari can push their star to the top again.
