Ferrari chasing Red Bull in Bahrain. Charles dreams of an encore in 2022 and warns Max: “Second place is not enough for me. I want to win”
Their rivalry began when they were children and is becoming a classic. From kart duels, which ended with door swings and pushes in the mud, to those of recent years on the F1 World Championship circuits. The trajectories of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc crossed a thousand times, as they grew up side by side, following the thread of a passion for racing that made them grow up. On Saturday, at the start of the season in Bahrain, another challenge between the Dutchman from Red Bull and the Monegasque from Ferrari could be the best antidote against the boredom of a championship that is already mortgaged from the start, judging by the forecasts. Leclerc’s speed, reiterated with the best time on the last day of testing, gives the red fans hope. While Verstappen, ruler of 2023, made it clear that his strength has remained intact from one season to the next, so much so that he is still the super favourite. The goal is the fourth consecutive title, which would allow him to equal Sebastian Vettel among the most successful of all times.
Battles
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A battle between Max and Charles like the one two years ago, when they thrilled with their overtaking and counter-overtaking on the Sakhir track, would be enough to relaunch the show. Leclerc’s victory, repeated in the third race in Australia, made the start of 2022 exciting and uncertain. Then Red Bull solved its problems and changed pace, from Imola onwards, extinguishing the dreams of the Ferrari drivers. But the fight was not lacking, thinking back to Leclerc’s triumph in Austria, in the rivals’ fiefdom, with three overtakings at different times on Verstappen. The comparison became unequal last year, due to the excessive power of the machine designed by Adrian Newey. Now Principino, the ace of the qualifying lap, hopes to be able to compete with his eternal rival again, if the SF-24 proves to be more drivable and constant also in terms of race pace, respecting the impressions that emerged in the tests. “Second place has always been of little interest to me, I want to win, so we will try to take Max if there is an opportunity – says Leclerc -. We will set the objective in the championship after the first races, when we know exactly where we are compared to the others Red Bull still seems a little ahead of me.” The appetizer is expected tomorrow, with the fight for pole, where Leclerc will play for the first wildcard. “The start was very promising for us. I immediately had good sensations driving the car in the tests and we did a lot of kilometers – explains Verstappen -. But we will only know how fast we are after a few races, because Bahrain is a very specific track and different from those that will come later”.
Respect
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The antagonism between Max and Charles has always been intense and fair. Remember Leclerc’s ferocious look in 2019 in Austria, when Verstappen snatched the win from him on the penultimate lap, with a wicked spin at the Remus corner? A deep hatred could have arisen, the kind that goes beyond sport, but that didn’t happen. At Silverstone, in the following race, Charles returned the favor with a fierce defense at the limit of contact. Then he said, “After the duel with Max, I realized how far I can go by running more aggressively.” A lesson learned from the enemy. Mutual esteem and respect remained. Despite the skirmishes. “Charles and I started in karting together. I always knew that if I arrived in F.1, he would do it too, you could see the talent right from then”, said Verstappen. Age, character and competitive roots unite them. While between Verstappen and Hamilton, protagonists in 2021 of a duel for the title that has become bloody, an irreparable fracture remains. “I like fighting Charles better than fighting Lewis,” Max often said.
Tastes
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Yet they are polar opposites in many respects. Leclerc loves fashion, fashion shows, playing the piano and surrounding himself with friends. Verstappen spends entire days driving on the simulator in his living room, having fun challenging e-sports professionals on web platforms (from this year he will travel around Europe with a motorhome on which he has had similar machinery installed). After all, just look at the use they make of social media and the way they relate to the public. But, despite all this, there remains a friendship between the two so Verstappen would have had no difficulty in accepting Leclerc’s transfer to Red Bull as early as 2025, without vetoing. But Charles’ plan was to stay with Ferrari, the team of his heart, in the belief that he could win the World Championship with the Maranello team in the coming seasons. We will see them for many years to come on opposite sides. With the addition of Hamilton, who will be in red, creating a variable factor in the challenge. In the meantime, let’s enjoy Verstappen against Leclerc, third act. And it’s a great movie!
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