Leclerc on rivalry with Verstappen: "It's always been the case"
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Charles Leclerc says the rivalry between him and Max Verstappen is as fierce as it was when both drivers were still racing in karts. The Monegasque hopes to bring Ferrari to the next level soon so they can fight it out for the world title together.
The battle in 2019
"It's the same," Leclerc replied at the F1 Nation podcast Whether the rivalry between Verstappen and himself has changed since the karting days. "At the moment it's obviously a bit diminished of course, because I can't fight against him, unfortunately. But if you look at 2019 you can understand that there is quite a bit of competition."
In 2019, Verstappen and Leclerc met each other regularly on the track. The cars of Red Bull Racing and Ferrari were very much matched and in the end there were only 14 points between the two drivers after 21 Grands Prix. Especially the fight in the final laps of the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix has stayed with many people. For a long time it seemed then that Leclerc would get his first F1 victory, but Verstappen put a stop to it with three laps to go.
Getting higher with Ferrari
"It's always been the case. We grew up together in karting, we were always fighting together and now we find ourselves again in Formula 1," Leclerc continued. "I can't wait to bring back the team to where it deserves to be and fight for the title." Ferrari is experiencing an improvement in 2021 after a dramatic 2020, but competing with Mercedes and Red Bull is still too high for now.