Watch: Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc's epic wheel to wheel battle that drew 'he's quite decent' quip from the Red Bull driver

Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen had an intense wheel-to-wheel battle with one another at the Brazilian GP. After winning the race, Verstappen praised the Monegasque for his defensive skills in the cooldown room as well.

The Red Bull star had a rollercoaster of a weekend at Interlagos. He qualified P12 after Lance Stroll's crash that brought out the red flag in Q2. Later, he received a five-place grid penalty for a new power unit element, which knocked him down to P17.

At the start of Sunday's Grand Prix, Max Verstappen tried to gain as many places as he could in the early stages of the race. Though he successfully overtook a few drivers, he faced a fierce challenge while approaching Charles Leclerc. The two battled for P5 on Lap 22. Verstappen came around the outside of Leclerc on turn 1 and went side by side with him till the start of turn 2.

The Red Bull driver once again tried to overtake from the inside line at turn 7, but the Ferrari driver had more pace and retained the P5 position. After Lap 25, Charles Leclerc entered the pits, which ended his and Max Verstappen's on-track battle at the Brazilian GP.

Watch the clip of their on-track battle below:

After Verstappen managed to win the race, he sat with second-placed Esteban Ocon and third-placed Pierre Gasly in the cooldown room. They discussed various moves and strategies in the cooldown room, including Leclerc's defensive maneuvers. The three-time world champion praised the Ferrari driver, saying that he was stuck behind him for quite some time.

“Here I just got stuck cause Charles is actually quite decent,” Verstappen said.

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Charles Leclerc feels Max Verstappen played a larger part in winning the Brazilian GP than RB20

Charles Leclerc recently showered praises on Max Verstappen by saying that it was the Dutchman's on-track prowess that allowed him to win the Brazilian GP.

As per SportBible, Leclerc said that though Ferrari knew that Red Bull would be strong around Interlagos, he feels that Verstappen's skill played a major role in him winning the race.

"We knew the Red Bull would be good today. But honestly I think today it was more Max that made the difference than the car," Leclerc said.

After the race in Brazil, Max Verstappen leads the drivers' championship table with 393 points. Mclaren's Lando Norris is in second place with 331 points, while Charles Leclerc is in third place with 307 points.