Charles Leclerc admits his rivalry with Max Verstappen remains as fierce as ever, despite the two not currently being able to compete at the same level in F1. The battle between the pair started in their karting days and Leclerc believes that their famous on-track fight at the 2019 British Grand Prix showed just how intense the competition between them remains. "It's the same, it's the same," Leclerc told the Beyond The Grid podcast when asked how different the rivalry with Verstappen is now to when they were karting. "At the moment it's obviously a little bit diminished, because I cannot fight against him unfortunately. But if you look at the fight in Silverstone 2019, I think you can understand that there's quite a bit of competition. And it's always been the case. "I mean, it's nice. We've grown up together in karting, we've always been fighting together, and now we find ourselves again in Formula 1. So it's great and I can't wait to bring back the team where [it] deserves to be and fight against Max for the title." Whilst Leclerc and Ferrari are not currently in the World Championship battle, Verstappen and Red Bull are battling with Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes. When it comes to Hamilton, Leclerc is full of admiration but does not believe he bears many similarities to the seven-times World Champion in terms of how they approach driving. "Lewis is incredible," the Monegasque said. "He's incredibly consistent. "I'm a bit more of a crazy horse sometimes, going for the special overtake, and he's probably a bit more calm, just waiting for it. So I have to say we probably have a little bit of a different approach." Leclerc is currently in sixth place in the 2021 Drivers' Standings with 62 points, just two points ahead of Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz.
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