Charles Leclerc revealed his side of the story on the infamous Karting incident he had with Max Verstappen in 2012.
Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen have been racing each other on track since their karting days. Recently, they had a battle for the lead in the Bahrain GP which Verstappen lost.
Talking about an old infamous Kartin incident with the Dutchman, Leclerc revealed his side of the story and mentioned that he remembers the incident very well.
In the popular video, we can see Max showing his anger towards Leclerc. When asked if it is true that he took out Max after the chequered flag, Leclerc gave his opinion and said, “I remember it all my life.”
“It was a double right-hander at Val d’Argenton. I look at him & go like this. He was watching me, we touched a little bit, he took the white line that was wet & went straight. And there was a huge puddle… And he ended up in that puddle.”
After the incident both the drivers got disqualified. Max was furious with the Monegasque driver after the Karting incident. He said, “No, he is just unfair. I’m leading. He wants to pass and he pushes me and I push him back and after that, he pushes me off the track. It’s not fair.”
Also Read: Watch Zlatan Ibrahimovic get a tour of the Fiorano circuit with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz
Charles Leclerc used to dislike Max Verstappen
In an old interview with Ziggo Sport, Leclerc had said that he used to dislike Max when they were young. But, not he would love to have more battles with Hamilton and Verstappen.
“To be honest, I’m not allergic to Hamilton or Verstappen, though. I can deal with both of them just fine.”
A day of late braking and hand-shaking 🤝
The latest chapter of @Charles_Leclerc and @Max33Verstappen‘s on-track duels was an absolute thriller
📸 x @CanalplusF1 #BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/A7E7SbpddJ
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 20, 2022
“I disliked Max when we were younger and we fought each other in karts or little single-seaters, while Lewis was driving F1 by then. Now they’re just two drivers I’d like to overtake with my own car,” said Leclerc.
Going ahead into the 2022 season, Leclerc is ready to take on challenges from the 2021 world champion. When Verstappen’s habit of not yielding was pointed out to the Monegasque ahead of the Bahrain GP, Leclerc had unhesitatingly said, “I don’t either.”
On the Sakhir circuit, Leclerc did exactly that and every time the Dutch driver tried to take the lead, the former retaliated and took it back.
Also Read: Charles Leclerc accepts the Max Verstappen challenge before the race