“Hated Him As Much as He Hated Me”: Charles Leclerc Looks Back on the Journey to ‘Mutual Respect’ With F1 Rival Max Verstappen

Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen are arguably 2 of the best drivers in Formula One right now. They’ve been rivals since they were kids racing in karting and continued the rivalry till date in F1. They are currently battling for the world championship this season and are leading the pack in terms of the points.

But the Ferrari driver mentioned the nature of the rivalry has changed a bit since their karting days. Charles mentioned that both he and Max used to hate each other when they were racing in karting and battling for the wins.

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However, now both drivers have a lot of mutual respect for each other and don’t hate when the other driver wins.

Charles Leclerc provides an update on his rivalry with Max Verstappen

The Monegasque driver revealed that he and Verstappen have achieved their dream of racing in Formula One. This has made them more mature and taken the hate out of their rivalry. Additionally, respects the current world champion so much after years of fighting against him.

“In karting, we were there for the win, but we were also very young and we took things in a different way with a lot of anger, I remember. I hated him as much as he hated me at that time, but now we are grown up, we are a lot more mature, we respect each other and we have both achieved a dream to be driving in F1,” said the championship leader.

“There is a lot of mutual respect, which is great to see. I’m pretty sure that when there are only five races left to the end [of the year] if we are still in the position we are in now fighting for the championship, things will get more tense, but that’s the way it is and that’s how racing is. That’s why I love this sport so much, so we will see,” said Charles.

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But as Charles mentioned, let’s see if the mutual respect remains when the crunch time comes in the championship. This season is once again providing a legendary championship battle between two titans. The Ferrari driver would desperately hope that it is he who takes the title home.