‘Max races Leclerc differently to how he raced Hamilton’

Former F1 driver Karun Chandhok believes Max Verstappen races Charles Leclerc as an “equal”, rather than how his battles with Lewis Hamilton were to try and “dethrone” the seven-time World Champion.

Duels between Verstappen and Hamilton became intense at times last season, with contact made between the two of them on several occasions, with the Red Bull driver in particular receiving criticism for the lengths he sometimes went to in holding position against Hamilton.

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The title fight went all the way down to the final lap in Abu Dhabi, with the Dutchman breaking the Mercedes driver’s run of four World Championships in a row in dramatic circumstances.

But the racing between Verstappen and Leclerc, who had a rivalry with each other during their karting days, has been altogether “cleaner” through this year so far when they’ve battled for position.

And that could come down to a number of factors, including Verstappen taking the World title, as well as he and Leclerc being long-time “peers”, according to former Lotus and HRT driver Chandhok.

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“We talked about it, I think, after Saudi. I still believe that he actually races Leclerc differently to how he raced Lewis last year because I think he was trying to establish himself against Lewis, right?” Chandhok said on Sky F1.

“You know, Lewis was the incumbent, the king of the castle, and Max had to come along, or felt