Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen’s friendly rival

Anyone who types the words ‘Verstappen Leclerc karting’ on YouTube will find it almost immediately a clip dated 2012. The venue is the go-kart track of Val d’Argenton in France, where a round of the WSK Euro Series kart championships is held. Two teenage boys are interviewed about a collision that just happened on the rain-soaked track.

One tells in primary school English with a recognizable Limburg accent, while the steam is still coming from his ears, how his competitor drove him off the track without mercy: „not fair† The other shrugs when asked what happened and proclaims in unmistakable ‘Allo Allo’ English: “nothing. Just an incident†

Fast forward ten years and these two youngsters will once again cross swords on the track, only now they are older and wiser. This season Charles Leclerc (24) and Max Verstappen (24) are in charge in Formula 1 and their relationship is now mainly characterized by mutual respect. “It wasn’t enough today but oh my God, I really enjoyed the race,” Leclerc announced after his spectacular loss to Verstappen in Jeddah. “Every race should be like this. Max did a great job and it was a top race.”

It is a new sensation for Formula 1 viewers: after years of an often dogged battle against Lewis Hamilton, there is now a new competitor for Verstappen. In this case, not an established star, but a young man from Monaco who, like Verstappen, is still at the relative start of his career and is ascribed a great future. Although Verstappen and Red Bull made a false start with two retirements in three races, the Dutchman took matters into his own hands again this weekend in Imola with a maximum score, reducing the early deficit to Leclerc, who finished sixth on Sunday: from 46 to 27 points.

Like a rocket

The story goes that Charles Leclerc was recommended to Ferrari by one of his best friends, Jules Bianchi who died tragically in 2015. The Frenchman was once in the same position as Leclerc: he was the famous crown prince of Ferrari, the star pupil of the Ferrari Driver Academy. His promise was dashed by a fatal accident in Suzuka’s torrential rain in October 2014. He died in July 2015 after a nine-month artificial coma.

During 2014, Leclerc took his first steps in the formula cars, after which he shot through the training ladder like a rocket. Formula Renault, Formula 3, GP3 and finally Formula 2: none of these racing classes had many secrets from him. The way he won the F2 title in 2017 as a freshman was extremely impressive. In the first six race weekends, Leclerc took six pole positions and regularly drove the field well behind – in a class where everyone rides with the same equipment.

Leclerc was therefore ready for Formula 1. To allow him to mature in the lee, Ferrari stored him in 2018 with sister team Alfa Romeo Sauber. There he single-handedly ended Marcus Ericsson’s F1 career. Leclerc didn’t miss the Swede, who was in his fifth season at the time, and scored as rookie more than four times as many World Cup points as his teammate. Ferrari had seen enough and promoted Leclerc to the mothership after one season of Formula 1, at the expense of veteran Kimi Raikkonen.

With that, he did what Bianchi once had in mind: conquer a spot at the academy from the academy Scuderia† Also at Ferrari it quickly became apparent that Leclerc had little interest in arriving names and established reputations. In addition to four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, he could learn the tricks of the trade, or so the thought. Reality turned out differently: Leclerc beat Vettel directly in 2019. He took more pole positions, won more races, finished on the podium more often and finished the season fourth ahead of Vettel.

A year later, Vettel’s collapse was complete: the German piled error after error while Leclerc made himself indispensable at Ferrari. Vettel left with his tail between his legs, while Leclerc had meanwhile been rewarded with a new, long-term contract until 2024. It is therefore not unexpected that Leclerc is now emerging as championship leader: his star has been rising for years and, like Verstappen, is de Monegask seen by many connoisseurs as one of the new generation of drivers that will call the shots in the coming years.

Different dynamics

The dynamic between Verstappen and Leclerc is very different from that between Verstappen and Hamilton. Leclerc is especially happy that he finally has a car at his disposal with which he can compete for the world title. How different it was for Hamilton, the seven-time champion who saw his position as undisputed grandmaster attacked by a boy from Maaseik and therefore perhaps came a lot more vicious at times.

This different dynamic ensures that Verstappen and Leclerc give each other the light in the eye, as became clear in the first races of this season – a welcome change from the sometimes very grim relations in 2021. For the two youngsters (Verstappen is sixteen days older) hasn’t yet stood the test of time and they aren’t necessarily on a record hunt just yet. If all goes well, both have 15 more years in F1 ahead of them. If it doesn’t work this year, it will next year.

What also helps is that both Leclerc and Verstappen are already extremely mature and stable. They both went through the legendary apprenticeship in Formula 3 at Van Amersfoort Racing, under the inspiring leadership of ‘Uncle Frits’: Verstappen in 2014, Leclerc a year later. Verstappen then made his debut in the premier class at the age of seventeen and, especially after his promotion to Red Bull as an eighteen-year-old, was forced to grow up quickly.

Leclerc, in turn, has already had to deal with a lot of setbacks off the track. In five years, he lost three people who were extremely important to him: Bianchi in 2014, his father in 2017 and best friend Anthoine Hubert in 2019. Days after the death of his father, he won an F2 race by force majeure. He saw the fatal crash of F2 talent Hubert in Spa happen live; a day later he won the Grand Prix of Belgium on the same circuit, his first victory in Formula 1. If there is anyone who can channel personal setbacks and put sporting setbacks into perspective, it is Leclerc.

teething problems

Yet the relationship between Leclerc and Verstappen is not always harmonious, as the collision on the kart track in 2012 shows. There is also a precedent in Formula 1: three years ago, during the Austrian Grand Prix, Verstappen and Leclerc battled for victory until the last. Two laps before the end, the Dutchman made an attempt to overtake in which he ‘wheel banged’ Leclerc from the head and eventually crossed the finish line first. Leclerc was not impressed and claimed that Verstappen did not leave him room.

It was only hours after that finish that the stewards decided that a penalty for Verstappen was too much of a good thing, making his victory official. With that incident in mind, it is quite conceivable that cracks will also appear in the current front of mutual friendliness. Ultimately, both Leclerc and Verstappen are born champions who want to win at all costs. The possibility of a new collision is therefore always lurking, especially as the season progresses and the tension increases.

But before that happens, Red Bull must first get the reliability in order and filter the remaining teething problems from the RB18. In Imola there was no problem this weekend and the team scored maximum – Sergio Pérez came in second – but the fast Red Bull is not nearly as reliable as desired and that has already cost the necessary points. Still, the dominant performance in Imola will give Verstappen confidence. In addition, he will hope for a dip in quality at Ferrari, or at least the return of some Italian disorder. Because like Leclerc’s expensive mistake, he went off track and lost a lot of places, and the difficult weekend of his team-mate Carlos Sainz showed: a bit of chaos is never far away at Ferrari.