Charles Leclerc 'not an immediate threat' to Max Verstappen, says former F1 champion 

Despite being the main title protagonists of the 2022 season, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc seem to be mainting a much more cordial relationship than Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton did last year.

According to former F1 champion Nico Rosberg, the reason behind their amicable relationship is the fact that Verstappen enjoys a 38-point lead in the championship. Once Leclerc eats into that lead, the situation might change and become more intense.

Rosberg said:

“Both have known each other since childhood and respect each other because they know that they are tremendous talents. But I don’t think these scenes represent the whole picture. These are snapshots that you could have found between me and Lewis [Hamilton] laughing together. All in all, it’s intense.’’

He continued:

“Even if Charles is far behind in the World [Championship]. He’s not an immediate threat to Max. And funnily enough, the two have had few very close or controversial situations together. But we’re still waiting for that, then things will look different again.”

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Max Verstappen explains the cordial relationship with Charles Leclerc

Max Verstappen was questioned how the relationship between him and the Ferrari driver had stayed cordial, to which the Red Bull driver replied that the roots of the relationship go back to their formative years when they grew up together and developed a deep respect for each other. He said:

“I’ve known Charles [Leclerc] for a longer 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.”

Max Verstappen added:

“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.”

It will be interesting to see how things transform if the championship battle gets more intense and the stakes are raised as the season goes on.