Verstappen rejects Leclerc’s prediction for the Japanese Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc’s prediction of what would occur over the duration of the weekend of the Japanese Grand Prix was rejected by Max Verstappen.

Max Verstappen disagrees with Charles Leclerc, his closest Formula 1 title contender, that Suzuka will be a “Red Bull racetrack” for the Japanese Grand Prix.

This weekend, Formula One comes back to Suzuka after a three-year absence, with its high-speed character resembling that of Spa-Francorchamps, where Verstappen’s RB18 for Red Bull was unbeatable and Ferrari was decisively defeated.

Leclerc, who acknowledged in an exclusive conversation with RacingNews365.com that he believed the championship was lost after Spa, claimed he dreaded a repetition in Japan but was promptly dismissed by Verstappen.

Suzuka is a Red Bull track, in Leclerc’s view

With a victory and fastest lap this weekend, the Dutch racer would clinch his 2nd world championship if he outscores the Monegasque by 8 points.

Verstappen starts as a clear favourite to accomplish that goal given the advantages of the RB18 package, if Leclerc is to be believed.

“We’ve got very different cars here, a car which is much more solid on every type of track,” Leclerc said.

“Red Bull will be very strong here, it’s a track where you run the car in a similar position to Spa and I expect them to be very strong.

“Hopefully we will be stronger than we were there.”

Leclerc has won three of the previous three races, finished on the podium three times, and won the last two pole positions in Monza and Marina Bay in Singapore, three distinctly different tracks.

Sergio Perez mugged him off the line in Singapore, costing him a lead he would never reclaim, but he is certain it was an isolated incident before the lengthy drag to Turn 1 at Suzuka.

“I think we’ve been pretty strong with starts all year long,” he explained.

“Looking back at Singapore I don’t think we need to do anything. Myself, Lewis [Hamilton] and Fernando [Alonso] all had bad starts on the right hand side of the grid – that was a little bit unfortunate so I’m confident that the start will be fine.”

Verstappen pushes back

Verstappen disagrees with Leclerc’s opinions.

Red Bull, in his opinion, performed significantly greater than the other teams in Spa than they did.

“There are some similarities between the two circuits, but you drive with a bit more downforce here than in Spa,” the 31-time victor said.

“We did well in Spa, while other teams just couldn’t do it.

“Therefore I think that it will not be the same as in Spa – in Monza you saw that Ferrari was just very fast again over one lap.

“That’s why I think they are still not easy to beat over a lap, I hope we are better over a race distance, but I think it will be close again in Japan.”

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