Touches on the karting tracks and crossing statements: this is how the duel between Verstappen and Leclerc was born, which today has a spell on Formula 1

The duel between Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) stole the spotlight at the start of the Formula 1 season. The two are 24 years old and it is possible that these battles will last for a long time: the head-to-head will have its third episode of 2022 this weekend at the Australian Grand Prix. But this hand in hand was born a decade ago, when both fought in various karting championships. There were touches and even spicy and ironic statements when they were teenagers.

In the 72 years of the Máxima there were duels that marked its history. Since his early days with Juan Manuel Fangio vs. Alberto Ascari. In the next decade it was the turn of Graham Hill vs. Jim Clark. In the seventies with Jackie Stewart vs. Emerson Fittipaldi and Niki Lauda vs. James Hunt. In the eighties and early nineties it was the hardest of all time, Ayrton Senna vs. Alain Prost. Later, the ones that Michael Schumacher had with Jacques Villeneuve (1997), and Mika Hakkinen (1998/1999) with Fernando Alonso (2005/2006) were developed. The last few years were marked by those that Lewis Hamilton starred with Sebastian Vettel, in part of 2017, 2018 and 2019; and the last one in English with Verstappen, who defined the 2021 title in favor of the Dutch.

The peculiarity of Verstappen vs Leclerc is that the two have known each other since they were very young. Today they show themselves with the maturity and professionalism that comes with being in the big circus. Without being friends, there is mutual respect and that was demonstrated by the greeting between the two after the fight on the track they had in Saudi Arabia on the last date. At the start in Bahrain they also fought for the win. Charles reaches this third date in Australia as championship leader (45 points) and Max is third (25). Among them is the other ferrarist, Carlos Sainz (33).

Both were exponents of the driver development programs of Red Bull, in the case of Verstappen, and Ferrari, on the Leclerc side. Since the Monegasque made his debut at the Scuderia in 2019, there have been matches on track with the Dutch, like the one that took place in Austria. They are from the generation of simulators, but their strongest training took place in karting, the school par excellence of motorsport, where their first battles were. With different styles sparks were drawn: Verstappen, more aggressive, and Leclerc, more conservative, but no less fast.

They're both children of pilots. The remembered Hervé Leclerc between 1983 and 1988 raced 22 races in Formula 3 and Jos Verstappen competed in F1 between 1994 and 2003. Charles (16/10/1997) is only 16 days younger than Max (30/09/1997), but he started karting at the age of eight, when Max at four and a half years old already got on one and he was always accompanied by his father, who had strict methods in its early days.

However, at the international level both made their debut in international karting at KF3 in 2010, a category for boys aged 11 to 15. One who directly witnessed those battles is Armando Filini, manager of the Maranello Kart, the first team for which Leclerc raced. “They were always fighting. It didn't matter if they were competing in a tie or in a final, if it was raining or if the track was dry. Once we were in Genk, Belgium, in the first free practice, and they went on track. Charles and Max met, began to push each other and almost hit each other, with the risk of being left out. Jos Verstappen and I were glued to the fence to look at them and he turned around and said to me: 'These two will fight forever. They will fight even in F1′. A prophecy”, he recalled in dialogue with La Gazzetta dello Sport.

The two are part of a young guard who also includes Lando Norris (McLaren), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), George Russell (Mercedes), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Alex Albon (Williams) and Mick Schumacher (Haas), among others. But the combativity to the extreme in those days in the go-karts between Leclerc and Verstappen led to the word friendship being impossible, at least for Charles. “I know Esteban Ocon from the 2005 French karting championship. I had an incident with him, but then we became great friends. I met Max in 2010, but we are not friends after a few episodes in the karts,” he revealed in an article in Mundo Deportivo. On the social networks of each one there are no photos together from the karting era.

One of the best-known episodes in the world of karting was the one that starred in 2012, in Nantes, France, at the Val D'Argenton circuit, where one of the decisive races of the WSK Euro Series European Championship took place, with the two battling for the title. It was a difficult competition as it rained and Leclerc showed his cards and I do not hesitate to touch Verstappen after an attempt to overcome. In a video published on YouTube by the specialized site TKart Magazine, the testimonies of both were collected, with very different faces. Max is seen next to his father, with the face of few friends, like every time his son didn't win. “It's unfair. You haven't acted correctly. I was leading and in the end he hit me and left me off the track. It's not fair, eh,” said an angry Verstappen. For his part, much calmer, Leclerc wanted to lower the decibels and with the face of a “poor little angel”, he said it was just “a racing incident”. He wanted to downplay it, but both were excluded by dangerous maneuvers to the detriment of the opponent.

The KF2 European Championship in 2012 was ultimately left to Leclerc, although in 2013 Verstappen took the world title in the most important category, the KZ (video 1 of the note). The ecumenical karting title is what Ayrton Senna always wanted to win and could not. Leclerc had already been captured by Nicolas Todt, son of Jean Todt, the former head of Ferrari during the time of Michael Schumacher and who has just left the presidency of the International Automobile Federation (FIA). While Verstappen competed with the Bresciano CRG team, with the engines prepared by his father Jos.

While Italian Dino Chiesa, a karting guru who guided riders like Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, was an impartial observer of those struggles: “Max was always a little faster than Charles and also more aggressive. He never took his foot off the accelerator, rather he stepped on you, but he had to win at all costs. Leclerc was a winner, but with a different character. I would compare it to Rosberg, although perhaps he is more talented, while Verstappen reminds me of Hamilton,” he also told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Verstappen's world karting title catapulted him to Red Bull, in 2014 he reached Formula 3 and in 2015, at the age of just 17, he made his F1 debut with Toro Rosso (now Alpha Tauri). While Leclerc made a more gradual path and moved to Formula Renault and won the title of GP3 in 2016 and F2 in 2017, when it had already entered Ferrari's orbit. He premiered in La Máxima in 2018 with Alfa Romeo and in 2019 he moved to Scuderia and was Vettel's partner. “Charles is calm outside the car, but inside he has a very aggressive style. He is much more aggressive than Vettel, much more so, but he has youth and speed”, was defined by former Ferrari engineer and current Movistar F1 commentator Toni Cuquerella in testimonials published by Mundo Deportivo.

In 2022 Ferrari has a very competitive car and allowed Leclerc to win the first date in Bahrain and be a candidate for the title. But Red Bull, after its mechanical failures at startup, recovered in Saudi Arabia and Verstappen won. The mano a mano is installed and for now both are shaping up to compete for the crown. In karting they wrote the first pages of their battles and now they star in the great duel of the present and future of F1.

VERSTAPPEN AND LECLERC IN KARTING

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