Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) on Max Verstappen: “That would be totally wrong”

There was only one occasion when Charles Leclerc came close to his ultimate goal: winning the Formula 1 World Championship. In the first half of the 2022 season, the Monegasque driver looked like a champion in the making, but then his chances slipped away – Ferrari’s development was less efficient than Red Bull Racing’s for Max Verstappen, Ferrari also made strategic blunders, and Leclerc’s own error rate was too high for him to ultimately prevail over the Dutchman.

This weekend at Zandvoort, it was announced that Max Verstappen will remain under contract with Red Bull Racing until the end of 2030. Does Leclerc see Max as a role model to look up to?

Leclerc, who has competed in 182 Grand Prix races and, like Verstappen, is 28 years old, replies: “Max has had an incredible career so far and won four world championship titles. I haven’t managed that yet, but I think every driver’s situation is different.”

“I think it would be completely wrong of me to adopt the mindset of wanting to follow in Max’s footsteps – if only because I’ve no idea exactly what Max does within the team to achieve his successes.”

“So that would simply be based on me imagining and pictureing what’s needed to do that. That’s not a sensible approach. Instead, I prefer to focus on my own situation at Ferrari and try to concentrate on the processes here.”

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Zandvoort: Sprint Qualifying

FIA Formula One World Championship

21.08.2026 - 16:15

“We have a crystal-clear picture of where we stand as a team and what we can do to improve our weaknesses compared to Mercedes – who are currently the favourites – and what we need to work on.”