'Fight with Leclerc is much easier for Verstappen than with Hamilton'

According to Jolyon Palmer, Max Verstappen has little to fear from Charles Leclerc at the moment. The Monegasque is still top of the championship, but the battle on the track is perhaps being won too easily by the Dutchman.

Verstappen has scored three victories in the 2022 Formula 1 season and especially the way he did it impresses. In Saudi Arabia he had to come from fourth on the grid, in Imola he fought back after a bad start in the sprint race and in Miami he came from spot three. However, Palmer feels that Leclerc is not making things that difficult for him either.

''Leclerc immediately cracked, running wide at Turn 17 as soon as Verstappen loomed large in the Ferrari’s mirrors. This gave the Dutchman a brilliant opportunity to pass, which became a slam dunk when Leclerc gifted Verstappen the inside line into Turn 1. Passes for the race lead don’t come much easier than that, particularly against a driver who is almost certainly Leclerc’s main title rival,'' Palmer said in his analysis for Formula1.com.

According to Palmer, Verstappen will therefore feel in his element. The Dutchman had a particularly tough fight with Lewis Hamilton in 2021, but now the fight with Leclerc is very respectful. When Leclerc puts pressure on the Dutchman, however, he does not break. Indeed, in the closing stages in Miami, Max did not budge when Leclerc was still pushing.