Verstappen knew enough after Leclerc's mistake: 'We won't give this away'

Max Verstappen, in Max Verstappen: Picture Perfect by Viaplay, he looked back at the 2022 Formula 1 season in detail. The Dutchman is asked by Amber Brantsen about his rivalry with Ferrari and Charles Leclerc's mistakes, among other things.

On Thursday, Viaplay published a major interview with Verstappen, looking back on the season in a half-hour interview. To do so, the streaming service has created a photo book with defining moments in the season. Thus begins a look at the setbacks suffered by major rival Ferrari.

Setbacks for Ferrari

''Yes, it (Ferrari) of course started very well, very strong. (But) in the middle of the season they had a lot of difficult races and mistakes,'' said Verstappen. The Red Bull driver states that he did not have to chuckle at the competition's problems, but of course it was an advantage for his team.

''It's obviously not nice to see for them. So you do sympathise with them, but on the other hand it worked out well for us. Especially because we had such a difficult start and were able to catch up. The pressure then comes to them and not so much to us. Everything was going pretty well, so then you are in a good flow.''

Title is in for Verstappen

Verstappen gets the picture in front of Leclerc who crashed out at the French Grand Prix. Leading the race, the Monegasque slid off the track, allowing Verstappen to take advantage. Asked if that was a tipping point, Verstappen replied as follows: ''For me it was. From that moment I was like 'now he's in'. If we don't have bad luck, we'll be fine.''

The French Grand Prix was only the 12th GP of the season, but afterwards Verstappen had a margin over Leclerc of 63 points. ''Yes, but it was quite a big gap so then I was like this is something we are not going to give away,'' concluded the 2021 and 2022 world champion.