"I knew I was vulnerable" - Charles Leclerc 'paid the price' in trying to keep Max Verstappen behind at the 2022 F1 Imola GP Sprint

Charles Leclerc claims he 'paid the price' by using up most of his tire life to keep Max Verstappen behind him at the start of the 2022 F1 Imola GP sprint race. Leclerc lost out to the Dutchman after his front-right tire started graining towards the end of the race.

Verstappen started the Imola GP sprint race in pole position after an excellent wet-weather qualifying session on Friday. In the sprint race, the Dutchman instantly lost out to Leclerc after a poor start, losing the lead before Turn 1. While it seemed as though the Ferrari driver had a natural pace advantage, the reigning world champion stuck with Leclerc and bided his time before overtaking the Monegasque driver with less than two laps remaining.

Speaking about his defeat after the sprint, Leclerc claimed he should not have used up his tire life at the start of the race. He said:

“I did a great start and was in P1 and it was all about trying to get Max [Verstappen] away off the DRS, otherwise I knew I was vulnerable. So, I pushed quite a bit on the tires and obviously paid the price at the end with the race with the front-right graining which was quite a bit. But, it’s okay. The main race is tomorrow and there’s not much we can change but the compound and the driving for sure. I will work on that and try and optimize that.”

---

Rivalry with Charles Leclerc 'feels natural', claims Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen revealed that his battle with Charles Leclerc feels natural since the duo faced each other earlier in go-karts. The reigning champion claims he has had some nice duels with the Ferrari driver, the most recent of which was in Saturday's Imola GP sprint race.

Verstappen told La Gazetta dello Sport:

“Every driver is different, in the way they attack or defend. That’s why you always have to go into the fight in a unique way. It feels natural to compete against drivers that I have competed against in the past in karts and have now come to F1. In particular Charles [Leclerc]; it’s nice to see that we are two young guys competing for victories – we’ve fought some nice duels so far. I’m [also] happy that my friend [Carlos] Sainz is now driving a competitive Ferrari, after we made our debut together in 2015.”

Charles Leclerc still holds a sizeable lead over his rivals in the drivers' standings, with Ferrari having given him the most consistently-fast car on the grid in 2022. With the world champion showing great form at Imola, only Sunday's race will tell whether he can close the points gap to his long-time rival.