Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Paul Ricard, 2022

Horner has “great deal of respect” for “hard but fair” Leclerc

RaceFans Round-up

Posted on

| Written by

In the round-up: Christian Horner says he has a lot of respect for how Charles Leclerc has competed against Max Verstappen in 2022

In brief

Horner has “great deal of respect” for “hard but fair” Leclerc

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says he has a lot of respect for how Charles Leclerc has competed against Max Verstappen in 2022.

Leclerc led the early rounds of the championship, fighting on track with Verstappen on multiple occasions, before falling to an 80 point deficit to the Red Bull driver by the summer break. Horner says he admires how Leclerc has fought against his driver over the opening 13 rounds of this year’s championship.

“I have a great deal of respect for the way he’s conducted himself,” Horner said.

“The way that he’s racing on track, he’s hard but fair and I think the racing between the two guys, there’s been a lot of hard racing between the two of them in the first half of this championship, but there hasn’t been a single touch and it’s great to see and it’s enjoyable to be part of.”

COTA adds new infield grandstand for US Grand Prix

The Circuit of the Americas will add a new grandstand to the infield of the course to increase capacity for this October’s United States Grand Prix.

The new stand will be located just after the sweeping S-curves in the opening sector, looking at the cars head-on before they enter turn six. Tickets for the grandstand go on sale today at 10am CDT, with all other tickets sold out for the three day event.

“After years of ambition, this incredible location, something we’ve always hoped to add, is finally a reality,” said COTA chairman Bobby Epstein.

“It is one of several new fan-focused improvements, along with a new five lane road, 200 more front gate buses, five new shade tents, and a new ‘quick serve’ menu. This grandstand allows us to open an entirely new part of the campus to programming and enhanced offerings.”

Hamlin doubts Raikkonen will fight for NASCAR victory at Watkins Glen

Three-time Daytona 500 winning NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin does not believe Kimi Raikkonen will be in contention for victory during his NASCAR Cup debut at Watkins Glen this weekend.

Raikkonen will compete in his first race at NASCAR’s highest level at the New York circuit in a one-off appearance with new team Trackhouse. Asked how Raikkonen would change the dynamic of the race, Hamlin said he did not believe the former F1 champion would be able to fight for victory.

“It’s a great opportunity for him and Trackhouse and whatnot, but as far as being a contender to race for the win, I don’t think that’s a possibility,” said Hamlin. “Just simply because it does take time. If you look at the people who have been successful in stock cars coming from open-wheel backgrounds, it takes a long time.

“I think it’s a good thing for our sport if it gets some good publicity, but other than that, I’m not really sure it changes the dynamic of the race too much.”

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Social media

Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Comment of the day

With Formula 1’s new regulations for 2022 seeing a team other than Red Bull, Ferrari or Mercedes taking a podium only once so far this season, @stefmeister argues the new technical regulations were always unlikely to make the field more competitive…

In terms of the top teams still having an advantage over the mid-field, I was never really expecting that to change & to be honest I’m not sure it ever will even with the cost caps & stuff because the top 2-3 teams will still have better engineering teams, facilities & will still attract the best people & that will still give them that bit extra over the rest. And I don’t think giving everyone the same budget to spend will necessarily change that anytime soon.

And then the mid-field is just as close as it typically has been so I don’t really think the new regulations changed much there. The slowest team on any given weekend is maybe closer to the mid-field but thats about it.
@stefmeister

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Harry Palmer, Sue and Isaac!

On this day in motorsport

Nico Hulkenberg, Aston Martin, Jeddah Corniche Circuit, 2022

Author information

Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

48 comments on “Horner has “great deal of respect” for “hard but fair” Leclerc”

  1. petebaldwin (@)
    19th August 2022, 0:07

    “If we only looked at the bank account, the racing calendar would definitely look different.”

    True, it would look like the 2025 calendar instead

  2. there’s been a lot of hard racing between the two of them in the first half of this championship, but there hasn’t been a single touch and it’s great to see and it’s enjoyable to be part of

    – Horner

    Could that be because Max has changed his driving style, refraining from cutting in hard to attempt to force a rival to back out?
    Possibly because the regulations have been changed to make that style an offence…
    Sometimes that worked out for him in previous years, sometimes not, and Horner did not enjoy the ‘not’ side.

    I’m not convinced Horner would be enjoying the racing at all if Ferrari had performed properly as a team and Leclerc was leading the WDC by big numbers.

    1. Well said.

    2. That`s what I thought, then chuckled to myself thinking `Theres still plenty of races left for brake testing and parking the car on another`

      1. Itsmeagain (@)
        19th August 2022, 10:50

        Indeed, but when MB has reached the two topteams maybe they can also send their competitors again with 53G into the barriers or carambole a whole team from the track at the start?

        1. Yawn….

          1. Itsmeagain (@)
            19th August 2022, 11:50

            Yep, when it doesn’t suit you it’s suddenly ‘yawn’.

          2. Max was shown to have had some responsibility for the crash and Bottas crashed into Norris who then crashed into the Redbulls but that doesnt `suit` the RB narrative….

          3. Itsmeagain (@)
            19th August 2022, 17:16

            Interesting how (certain) fans always come with that part Max was a small part to blame for the silverstone crash, but the same people forget the stewards also used ‘predominantly’ for the monza crash.
            It seems bias is a good excuse for bringing things like ‘narrative’, ‘probably just following the sport’. ‘Orange glasses’.
            Both drivers deserved a penalty for their actions (point)

            “In the opinion of the stewards, this manoeuvre was attempted too late for the driver of Car 33 to have “the right to racing room”.

            “While Car 44 could have steered further from the kerb to avoid the incident, the stewards determined that his position was reasonable and therefore find the driver of Car 33 was
            predominantly to blame for the incident.

          4. Um…Err… I read this multiple times and Iam just confused.. Is this meant to support your case?

          5. Itsmeagain (@)
            19th August 2022, 22:32

            Probably very complex…. Like max had a small part in the silverstone crash, lewis had the small part in monza. But the only thing you see… are the things you want to see

          6. `Like max had a small part in the silverstone crash`

            Never thought I`d see the day that a Max fan admits that Max was also responsible in some part for the crash, gonna do a print out and have it framed… :-)

          7. Ehm, ploss, you still haven’t said anything about hamilton having his part in monza… It’s why the other poster even brought this up.

          8. Ehm, ploss, you still haven’t said anything about hamilton having his part in monza… It’s why the other poster even brought this up..

          9. Really goes to prove the other poster right, you literally only see what you want to see.

          10. @itsme: That’s because some people know that “predominantly” does not mean either “exclusively” or “entirely”– the word in fact proves that Max was partially to blame. In fact, the blame could be as much as 49% Max’s.

          11. Big difference was that Lewis was almost side by side with Max in Silverstone but Max wasnt, I consider Monza the same as what Lewis did at Monza in 2010 and at that time I was `Lewis what are you doing that is never gonna stick`, Lewis even came out afterwards saying he apologised for the crash to the team, Max on the other hand launched of the sausage curb into Lewis then moaned about not leaving space.

    3. Or possibly because Verstappen is racing Leclerc now, and not Hamilton.

      1. Verstapen is massacring Hamilton

    4. That is correct. Horner is desperate about rewriting the 2021 season with Red Bull as the good guys.

      The main reason why he is fine with Leclerc’s racing is that Leclerc is not a WDC threat. If anything, Leclerc has been closer than Hamilton was to the limit of acceptable racing.

      The main reason why Leclerc and Verstappen don’t collide on track is that the latter has completely cleaned up his act, which is very nice to see and which I am certainly not complaining about.

      The main reason why Verstappen has become a clean racer, only he really knows, but I strongly suspect that becoming WDC has lifted an enormous father-induced pressure from his shoulders. Even off-track, he now looks much less like a bully and much more like Lando’s fun-loving pal.

    5. When you’re in front with the driver behind no chance of making the corner on the inside, Max’s line was totally legit. Even had TWO wheel corrections left to give Lewis space at the end of the straight.
      Hamilton has well known petulance problems. “I’ve learnt a lot about that guy today” – earlier in 2021, really Lewis? you raced him for 5 seasons already. The lump in your voice gave the game away you’d be out for revenge.

  3. I need to ask it again: Why headline the daily round-up with a 10-day old quote which has been reported widely in other media?

    1. First I`ve of it, during the break some people like to step away from F1 and only have a quick look at there favourite web site.

  4. Press OK to deactivate holiday mode, nice photoshop, but a track map is what actually was on display at that moment as this is Alpine’s regular display outlook when cars are in the garages & the same with Aston.

    Yet another song I found thanks to Ricciardo. I wonder what’s next.

    Leclerc’s Insta wording can be misleading, but of course, not by walking.

    Domenicali is right, race calendars would look very different if money were the sole determining factor.
    Effectively only races in the Middle East, China, & Azerbaijan, i.e., only in the so-called lucrative event locations.

    COTD’s assessment is good & valid overall & while the budget cap + wind tunnel time allocations will close up the field over time, another matter is how much.

    1. The road where Ricciardo is driving looks familiar (location).

      I guess as long as he doesn’t work for Wagner it’s not a big problem ;)

      1. Yes, that road most likely is the same as in the link. I immediately assumed the US based on the surroundings.
        @jff

  5. They misspelled Hamilton and then I read it again and it was meant to be Hamlin

    Happy birthday to ˈni:ko ˈhʏʏʏʏʏʏʏʏʏʏʏʏʏʏʏʏlkənbɛɐ̯k

  6. I feel Lewis should take note

    1. Wow, you saw through the most thinly veiled dig at Hamilton. Congratulations.

      1. LOL, there not the sharpest pencils in the case….

    2. The “aggressive Verstappen” is 25% true and 75% pure distilled British journalism and Hamilton/Mercedes fanbase bias. They just couldn’t take in having Hamilton get fed a spoonful of his own medicine over the years.

      The only real aggressive points were in Brazil and Jeddah where he was out of control and I am of the opinion btw he did try to brake test Hamilton but I also think Silverstone was just as deliberate, as well as it happened beforehand fueling the red mist for Jeddah (and was a success along with the 25 plastic points onboard).

      Note: Before you try to quote me there is an excelent video made from crashalong that compares the Leclerc vs Hamilton X2 with Verstappen vs Hamilton.

      Imola, Monza chicane? Dumb move from Hamilton or anyone trying to pass from the outside while side by side. (See Hamilton vs Magnussen 2022, Leclerc vs Hamilton 2019)

      Barcelona start? (See Russel vs Checo in this year’s race)

      Hamilton fans before you hypocritically blame Verstappen go watch a couple of highlights from the Massa vs Hamilton or Rosberg vs Hamilton years. Heck, even the brake test in Baku 2017 on Vettel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3So_PleHgk

      1. There`s so much wrong with what you say there that I just cant be bothered, Iam sure someone else will come along and correct you..

        1. Especially the slow mo video “proving” a brake test 😂😂

          Of course, the only accusations of aggressive Verstappen driving came last year from British media. Certainly not from Vettel and Raikkonen a few years ago or from several of his opponents pre F1.

      2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        19th August 2022, 18:15

        @cobray I agree – Verstappen isn’t aggressive. Last season was all fabricated and Verstappen’s sideways lunges that nearly killed Lewis at Silverstone and Monza were real-time CGI effects. In reality, Max had slowed down and was volunteering to save a bus of young kids stuck at a bridge, acts for which he eventually received his sainthood.

        That’s why Max is known as Saint Max around the paddock!

        1. I wouldnt call being almost side by side into a corner a `lunge`. I would call turn 4 Brazil a `lunge` that required as Horner would put it `My corner or we crash` avoidance of driving 10 mts of the track. As for Monza I think your find it was Max who did the killer lunge.

          1. What is the update on getting Brazil turn 4 renamed ‘Verstappen straight’?

      3. You compare a brake test with 69 bar pressure on the pedal (Max in Jeddah) with a simple non-acceleration (HAM didnt even brake in Baku, he just didnt accelerate as Vettel had expected). Orange blindness it seems…

      4. @owen @freelittlebirds @f1-ploss How much does the Hamilton fan club membership go for these days? A pair of rose-tinted glasses or just blinders?

        1. Why, are you thinking of leaving the Max hype train?. I dont think your get in though as you gotta know the difference between brake testing someone and not accelerating…..

  7. Of course Horner has respect for Leclerc.

    His driver is easily beating him.

  8. Meh, probably the fact that the new racing guidelines means Max has to reign it in a bit. This and the fact that Leclerc is zero threat and his teammate isn’t allowed to challenge so Max has no pressure. It’s cruise control. Let’s see how he reacts when the pressure is on–that’s the true test. I’m not convinced Max has changed. Max forcing Schumacher off the road in Silverstone this season show there are still glimpses of the “yield or we crash” Verstappen.

      1. Also Max has the most penalty points and is close to a race ban. That too maybe a reason as to why he isn’t his usual “bull in a China shop”

        1. Yeah, forgot all about that, 4 points from a ban.

          1. Doh, meant 5, 4 of the 12 are for causing a collision with guess who…

          2. Guess who also got penalty points in silverstone 2021?

          3. Dont forget that Lewis had to do a number of avoiding actions to avoid contact that led to rule changes because of Max gun ho-ing into corners knowing that if there was contact it would be in he`s favor

Comments are closed.