Max Verstappen wanted to give credit to Charles Leclerc after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where the Ferrari driver posed a strong challenge to Lando Norris for the third place in the race.
The great alliance
From fierce rivals in their karting days to temporary allies—albeit ultimately unsuccessfully—at the end of this season, the story of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc continues to intertwine. In Abu Dhabi, Charles Leclerc represented, for most of the race, the biggest potential threat to Verstappen’s chance of retaining the world championship title.
In the opening laps, Charles Leclerc put significant pressure on Lando Norris, coming close to overtaking on a couple of occasions. Later, with a bold race strategy, he forced the McLaren team to mark him closely, ensuring Norris never lost sight of his goal: securing third place. A crucial objective, which the team achieved successfully.
Verstappen impressed by Leclerc
In the post-race press conference, Max Verstappen—who, as often happens when he is in control, followed part of the race on the big screens—wanted to acknowledge Charles Leclerc’s performance, emphasizing the quality of his drive: “Charles gave his all today trying to get onto the podium, and it was really impressive to watch.” Few words, but very clear, showing the deep respect the four-time world champion has for his peer, who has never yet had a real opportunity to fight for the title behind the wheel of a Ferrari.
Max Verstappen also admitted that he occasionally watched what was happening behind him, hoping for a twist in his favor: “I kept looking at the screen to see if something would happen.” However, this time, there was no repeat of 2021, and Lando Norris managed to snatch the world championship by just two points.
In the end there was no repeat of the dramatic 2021 finale. Lando Norris held firm, took the third place he needed and, by just two points, ended Max Verstappen’s reign as world champion.
Leave a Reply