Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc in March 2022 on the F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain
Components 1 through Getty Pictures
MELBOURNE — Max Verstappen has loved going wheel-to-wheel along with his childhood rival, Monaco’s Charles Leclerc, within the opening two races of the Components 1 season.
“It’s been actually good, I benefit from the battles,” the Dutchman instructed The Submit on Thursday forward of the Australian Grand Prix.
Verstappen and Leclerc, each 24, started racing towards each other in karts once they have been 12 years outdated. Quick-forward to 2022, and each the Purple Bull ace and Ferrari driver every has a win apiece. In the meantime, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton campaigns for a Mercedes group missing the tempo to compete for victories.
“We now have each [grown] as drivers and we're each representing two huge manufacturers,” Verstappen stated of his and Leclerc’s comparable trajectories to the higher echelon of motorsport.
“However I feel we undoubtedly race higher now than what we did earlier than,” he stated with fun of their youth battles. “Again within the day we each needed to grow to be Components 1 drivers, and now we're each combating on the very entrance of Components 1.”
With Leclerc main the championship by 12 factors heading into the third race of the season, Verstappen insisted the “strain is off” this yr after he defeated Hamilton, 37, in December in what was a career-defining, first world championship.
“I’m simply myself, and I’m simply having fun with what I’m doing for the time being. The strain is off anyway,” Verstappen stated.
“It nonetheless means loads to me after I win races, like after I gained at Saudi, nevertheless it’s a special feeling main as much as the [race] weekend.”
The traditionally Europe-centric sport has skilled fast development in america market over the previous few years: viewership was up 54 % final yr, and the 2022 season opener in Bahrain lured a couple of million viewers.
F1 house owners Liberty Media have reacted to the game’s surge in recognition — which may very well be attributed, partially, to the Netflix collection “Drive To Survive” — by including races to the North American slate.
A second US race in Miami has been added to the 2022 calendar, with a 3rd set to happen on the Las Vegas strip for 2023. F1 has been racing in Austin, Texas since 2012.
Although Verstappen stated he hoped for some “good racing” when F1 heads to Sin Metropolis, he’s cautious of the game ditching historic tracks in favor of avenue circuits.
“I feel it’s actually cool that we’ll be driving on the strip [but] on the finish of the day they're additionally making an attempt to create a little bit of a present,” he stated of the upcoming race, which is able to happen on a Saturday evening.
“I feel we nonetheless must go to the old-fashioned tracks and truly drive F1 automobiles the place they belong. Particularly with the [2022] automobiles … they’re so low, they’re simply not made for [street circuits].”
The 2022 Australian Grand Prix takes place right here on Sunday, April 10.
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