Max Verstappen has chosen his 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix fight with Charles Leclerc as his favourite on-track battle in Formula 1, giving fresh recognition to one of the most intense early chapters of their rivalry. The Jeddah duel ended with Max Verstappen taking victory by around half a second after a tense late-race fight shaped by DRS positioning, braking tactics and repeated attempts to gain the upper hand.
The choice stands out because Max Verstappen has been involved in many high-profile battles across his Formula 1 career, yet it was the contest with Charles Leclerc on the streets of Jeddah that he singled out. For Ferrari fans, it is also a reminder of just how competitive Charles Leclerc was in the opening phase of the 2022 season, when the two drivers were regularly fighting directly for wins.
Max Verstappen picks Charles Leclerc Jeddah duel as his favourite battle
The 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix produced one of the most memorable fights of that season. Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen were locked together in the closing stages, with both drivers trying to manage their positioning around the DRS detection point before attacking on Jeddah’s long straights.
The contest became unusual because neither driver simply wanted to be the first to cross certain points on the circuit. Both were thinking about where DRS would be available on the following straight, turning the battle into a combination of speed, timing and racecraft rather than a straightforward braking contest.
Max Verstappen eventually came out on top, beating Charles Leclerc to the chequered flag by roughly half a second. The small margin reflected how closely matched the two had been over the final phase of the race.
Charles Leclerc called the fight hard but fair
The tone after the race was just as significant as the battle itself. Charles Leclerc described the contest as “hard but fair” and said he would like racing to be like that at every Grand Prix. The assessment underlined that the Ferrari driver viewed the fight as aggressive without believing it had crossed the line.
Max Verstappen also described the battle as difficult but enjoyable. That mutual appreciation helped make the Jeddah fight stand out from more controversial wheel-to-wheel moments elsewhere in Formula 1, because the emphasis afterwards was on the quality of the racing rather than an incident or dispute.
Years later, Max Verstappen selecting that duel as his favourite gives the race another layer of significance. It suggests that the combination of close performance, tactical thinking and clean wheel-to-wheel racing left a lasting impression even after many subsequent victories and title fights.
Why the choice still resonates with Ferrari fans
For supporters of Charles Leclerc, the selection is naturally flattering. The Monegasque driver did not win the race, but the fact that Max Verstappen still identifies the contest as his favourite highlights how demanding the Ferrari challenge was that evening.
It also recalls a period when Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen were regularly meeting at the front of the field, with Ferrari and Red Bull producing cars capable of fighting for victories on the same weekends. Jeddah was one of the clearest examples of their contrasting approaches being tested directly under pressure.
The renewed attention around that battle also comes at an interesting time for Formula 1. The 2026 generation has introduced very different technical demands, with active aerodynamics and energy deployment becoming a much bigger part of how drivers attack and defend on straights.
That does not make the 2022 Jeddah fight a direct comparison with the current cars, but it does explain why fans continue to reference races like that when discussing the quality of wheel-to-wheel competition. The duel between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen was built around two drivers trying to out-think each other while remaining close enough on performance for every small decision to matter.
A lasting moment in the Leclerc-Verstappen rivalry
The 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix remains one of the defining early battles between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen at Formula 1 level. Their rivalry had already existed long before they reached the championship, but Jeddah gave it one of its most polished Grand Prix chapters.
For Max Verstappen to now place that fight above his other on-track battles is notable in itself. For Charles Leclerc, it is also another reminder that some of his strongest performances have not necessarily been defined by the final result alone.
The victory belonged to Max Verstappen, but the battle itself required both drivers to operate at an exceptionally high level. That is ultimately why the fight remains memorable, and why it continues to resonate even as Formula 1 moves into a very different technical era.
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