Charles Leclerc made a surprising revelation about his long rivalry with Max Verstappen in Formula 1. The Ferrari driver stated that, back in Karting days, he believed the Dutchman was ‘a bad person,’ a perception that completely changed over the years.
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The statement shows how the relationship between two of the leading names of the current generation has evolved since their first clashes in the junior categories. Today, despite intense battles on the track, Leclerc assures that both have learned to separate competition from life off the circuits.
In an interview with Sky Sports Italy, the Monegasque explained that maturity was key to this transformation: “When you’re on the track, it’s all business. We both matured over the years, and life has changed drastically since we started,” he said.
Leclerc went further by recalling how he viewed Verstappen at the start of his career: “At that time, I really believed he was a bad person, and he thought the same about me. Growing up taught us that people are different off the track, and that completely transformed our relationship,” he said.
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The two return to share the spotlight this weekend at the Belgian GP in Spa-Francorchamps. Verstappen was the fastest in FP1, while Leclerc finished third. In FP2, the Red Bull Racing driver appeared again among the leaders, closing the session in third position, while the Ferrari representative was only 11th, more than 1.5 seconds behind Kimi Antonelli.
After Friday’s activities, Verstappen evaluated Red Bull’s performance positively, although he pointed out some limitations: “It was a reasonable day for me, I didn’t have major problems. The car was in a good operating window,” he commented.
The four-time world champion also highlighted that energy management remains an important factor in Spa: “Probably, in FP2, we saw a bit more of the real difference, but that’s nothing surprising or unexpected. It’s a difficult track in terms of energy management, and it seems we are a bit slower on the straights compared to some competitors. But, in terms of balance, everything is quite good,” concluded the Dutch driver.
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