"We know each other's weaknesses, we know each other very well, and that's what makes it exciting"- Charles Leclerc 'loving' his battles against Max Verstappen in 2022 F1 season

Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc have maintained a cordial relationship this season despite being the two main protagonists fighting for the title. Both drivers have been involved in some fierce wheel-to-wheel battles this season, but none of them have intensified things on the personal front.

Unlike Verstappen's rivalry with Lewis Hamilton last season, the one with Leclerc has involved far less chatter in the media and things have been somewhat amicable between the two contenders.

Charles Leclerc was recently asked by the media to compare the two rivalries. The Monegasque chose not to comment on what happened between Hamilton and Verstappen last year. Instead, he focused more on how the current championship battle has stayed clean between him and the Dutchman, saying:

“I mean, honestly, on the battle of Max and Lewis, I’ve got nothing to say. I wasn’t in that battle and, unfortunately for me, I was fighting for less interesting positions last year! But the fight with Max [and myself this season], obviously I love it.”

“We’ve known each other since a very long time [and] it’s always racing on the limits. You can argue that this year is a bit less aggressive than normal with the fights between us, but we’ve grown also throughout the years. We know each other’s weaknesses, we know each other very well, and that’s what makes it exciting – but there’s a lot of respect.”

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Max Verstappen seconds Charles Leclerc's view on the wheel-to-wheel racing

Max Verstappen, too, held the same view as his championship rival. He pointed out that the key factor why things have been smooth between him and Charles Leclerc was the kind of respect they had for each other and the amount of racing they have done against each other.

The reigning world champion said:

“I’ve known Charles [Leclerc] for a long time because we basically grew up together throughout racing and go-karting, and all the way to Formula 1. But I always had [and] still have a lot of respect for Lewis [Hamilton] and we always got on well, and also today, you know, as racing drivers, you know you come together but you also very quickly forget and just move on.”

“The amount of times I’ve crashed with Charles in the past, but now we can laugh about it, so it just, you know racing drivers, they of course, look at themselves. But yeah, this year, it seems a little bit calmer, and I just hope it stays like that and you can just have a great race.”

Halfway into the 2022 F1 season, things have remained somewhat cordial between the two drivers. It will be interesting to see if that is the case once the battle gets closer.