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Max Verstappen Takes a Dig at Charles Leclerc as Sim Racing Stream Brings Up Old “Inchident” Memories

Published 04/29/2024, 11:36 AM EDT

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via Reuters

“What’s the point of having a million cups and medals and planes if you don’t have any fun? How is that winning?”, said Chris Hemsworth at the end of Rush while playing James Hunt. F1 is as high as the stakes get when it comes to racing, but what fun is it without a little mischief? Just look at Max Verstappen’s radio messages, who while leading the races, jokes with his engineer GP. And now, while competing in Sim Racing, the Dutchman sarcastically took a shot at Charles Leclerc for an inchident that happened back in their karting days. 

F1 drivers who have raced together in the junior categories and make it onto the F1 grid usually share a special relationship. Look at Lando Norris, George Russell, and Alex Albon, who raced together in F2 and made it onto the grid in 2019 as rookies. And who can forget the special Rookie of the Year presentations by the trio? Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc also share a similar friendship. But it wasn’t the same back in the karting days.

Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc usually always give each other room on track and there have been hardly any incidents of them crashing into each other, except for the Sakhir Grand Prix in 2020, where Leclerc’s ambitious move on Sergio Perez took Max Verstappen, who was just a bystander at that point as well. However, back in the karting days, both Leclerc and Verstappen wanted to make a point. 

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One of the clips from back in the day became famous and is now a well-known meme. Yes, we’re talking about the “Inchident” clip. Post a karting race, Max Verstappen was interviewed and was furious at Leclerc for pushing him off the track during the race. When the Monegasque was asked about the same, he replied, “ Nothing, just an Inchident”, and that pronunciation of the word incident became a meme.

On many occasions, different drivers including Verstappen have teased Leclerc by using the word Inchident and now the Dutchman has brought back that meme during his recent live stream. While live streaming a sim race with Team Redline, an accident happened behind the 3X champion. As he was in a jovial mood and was enjoying the race, he said, “ Oh there’s an Inchident behind, what happened? An Inchident”

Max Verstappen has been live streaming a lot these days with there being 2 weeks between the Chinese and the Miami GP. And the Dutchman looks quite relaxed considering the tensions at Red Bull and the speculation around his career. But what exactly are these speculations?

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Max Verstappen’s rumored meeting with Toto Wolff post-Miami GP

The latest reports suggest that Max Verstappen will be having contract negotiations with Toto Wolff and other members of interest after the Miami GP. All this is believed to be because of the power struggle going on at Red Bull after the Christian Horner investigation.

via Reuters

Toto Wolff is ready to offer a $160 Million contract to the Dutchman along with an ambassadorial role, as well as the option to bring in Helmut Marko. The Mercedes CEO will be accompanied by Ola Kallenius who’s the CEO of the Daimler group, and Sir James Ratcliff, the largest shareholder of INEOS. Whereas from Max Verstappen’s side, Jos Verstappen and his representative Raymond Vermeulen are expected to be present. 

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Written by:

Pranay Bhagi

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Pranay is an F1 Content Analyst and writer at EssentiallySports who effortlessly blends his technical knowledge and passion for F1 in his writing. He has a knack for unique content research and specializes in trend-setting articles. Pranay’s coverage of the departure of Guenther Steiner from Haas received appreciation from readers.
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Edited by:

Shreya Singh