Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc have made the 2022 Formula 1 season a duopoly.
So far, they've matched each other blow for bow with two wins apiece, although fuel-system related retirements in Bahrain and Australia means Red Bull driver Verstappen’s triumph at Imola last weekend still leaves him 27 points behind in the standings.
An intense championship fight is nothing new for Verstappen, as he spent last year striving – successfully – to usurp Mercedes-AMG's Sir Lewis Hamilton as world champion. But the dynamic of his battle with Ferrari driver Leclerc is completely different. Whereas Hamilton was the established superstar who Verstappen, 12 years his junior, deposed, Leclerc is a true contemporary and Verstappen is the hunted, rather than the hunter.
Born less than a month apart in 1997, Verstappen is marginally the elder. Although both moved from karts to cars in 2014, Verstappen was in F1 with Toro Rosso, Red Bull’s junior team, by 2015, while Leclerc didn’t get there until 2018, having spent more time tearing up the junior categories. Their nascent F1 title fight is just the latest chapter in a story stretching back a decade to an intense karting rivalry.
“It’s going to be very close,” says Leclerc when asked by Autocar the advantages that he feels he has as a driver over Verstappen. “It has always been very close, especially in the junior categories.
“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.
“In which parts I'm stronger or not, I don’t know. We just have two different styles of driving. Sometimes one will win, sometimes the other might. But it's fun.”
Verstappen also regards the time when he and Leclerc “basically grew up through go-karting” fondly. This means it's already a deeply storied rivalry.
To answer the question Leclerc sidestepped about his advantages over Verstappen, what has always been abundantly clear is that he's fast – stunningly so. You can make a strong case for Leclerc being the fastest in F1 over a single lap, thanks to his astonishing feel and traction-sensing abilities. Verstappen teases the limit on a typical qualifying lap, but Leclerc openly defies it.
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Don't agree that Max is the complete article yet. Much improved, and an amazing driver of course. Last year he could have been out of sight without the over aggressive driving. His getting away with squeezing people off the track by Massi led to the Silverstone crash - Hamiton had had enough as Massi was too weak to apply rules. Hamilton gave him the chance to decide to crash or not - left his nose in, and gave him the choice.
Monza Max was lucky he took Hamiton out as he was beaten. Brazil he was lucky not to get a penalty. Abu Dabi Max brake tested Hamilton into the DRS line, which would normally have led to a black flag in most other motorsports.
Hell of a driver, but still has some rough edges. he pushes the boundaries of rules a lot, which is allowed, but goes too far in my view
Leclerc hasn't had the chance to shine at the front until now. My own opinion is that he's good, but not as good as Edd makes out. Sainz is also good, but not a superstar to compare against.
Could be, yes, if they continue driving like this there will be some epic races, but, only as long as there teams give them a winning/ reliable Car,and, this is only three races into a 23 race season, whose to say that a Mercedes for instance solve their problems?, they are not finishing at the back, they've had a few podiums to.