Formula 1: Charles Leclerc's insight into Max Verstappen rivalry

Charles Leclerc has said it’s ‘great’ how mature his and Max Verstappen’s rivalry has been this year, though the Dutchman has ultimately won this season.

Max can win the world championship this weekend at the Singapore Grand Prix, after stringing together a relentless run of wins whilst those around him have stumbled.

Indeed, Leclerc has suffered at the hands of some mistakes from his team but has also made his own errors, such as at the French Grand Prix when leading, and that has paved the way for Verstappen to nearly clinch a second crown.

READ MORE: HOW MAX VERSTAPPEN CAN WIN THE TITLE IN SINGAPORE

Leclerc and Ferrari will be eager to go again in 2023, of course, with them knowing that on their day they can compete with and beat Max and Red Bull, and the Monegasque has said he and Verstappen’s rivalry is now mature, compared to perhaps what it was when they were kids battling in the junior ranks.

“Max and I didn’t know at the time that we were going to get into F1,” Leclerc said to DAZN when reflecting on his past clashes with the Dutchman.

In karting, my biggest rival was probably Max. We were less mature, much younger, we took things more personally than we do now.

“Of course when you’re in the car, you never leave room for them to pass you or whatever. We do our best to keep each other behind. But we also know that drivers on the track are different people off the track. I think it’s fantastic that we both understand that.”

There does seem to be a healthy respect between Leclerc and Verstappen and we have seen several examples of that being displayed this year.

Of course, it helps that Max is so far ahead and things are therefore far less intense than they were in 2021 between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, which