Verstappen: People should be emotional

Leclerc was screaming in the car after his race-ending crash at Paul Ricard, and Verstappen thinks that is a normal reaction from the driver in the heat of the moment.

"Everyone handles that in a different way," Verstappen said in an interview with The Associated Press in Hungary on Thursday.

"Some people need to reflect on it like that," he added. "At the time you’re still a bit emotional from what just happened and maybe become a bit too emotional.

"But that’s fine, people should be emotional, they should show their emotions," the reigning Formula 1 Champion insisted.

"There’s no doubt about his general performance and pace," Verstappen said of his rival. "He’s a naturally skilled driver and that’s always something you can admire.

"People who are naturally quick, who don’t need to look into data for hundreds of hours. These drivers stood out already when they were younger. They just have this little extra compared to other drivers," he explained.

Leclerc is now 63 points behind Verstappen in the Drivers' Standings, but Verstappen found himself in a similar position at the start of the season, when he suffered a couple of DNF's in Bahrain and Australia, putting him some 50 points behind the Monegasque.

The tables have turned now, but Verstappen reflected saying: "I was just very frustrated because they were two times very easy second places and I knew we need those points. It wasn’t that we lacked pace but we still retired.

"The good thing within our team is that they can tell me when I did something wrong and I can tell them when they did something wrong," he revealed.

"You know when the strategy is wrong, or a pit stop is wrong or I drove like a pancake, you have to be honest with each other," the Red Bull ace insisted/

Leclerc, on the other hand, is adamant he's moving on from what happened in France's Le Castellet, saying: "There's nothing that will help me dwelling on my mistake our staying in the past.

"I did that mistake, it cost me lots of points. I'm aware of it and I just need to move on," the Ferrari driver insisted.

"I was pushing massively (in France) and this is what pushed me to a mistake," he added. "But will I want to give up the 2/3 tenths to not make a mistake? Probably not.

"I will believe in it until the very end. The goal remains to be world champion. Obviously it's a very optimistic goal," Leclerc admitted.

Leclerc seems well placed to secure a strong result at the 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend, after topping FP2 on Friday afternoon, with Verstappen only fourth fastest, as Ferrari's F1-75 seems to be rapid on both long runs and qualifying simulations.

Ferrari and their star driver just need to deliver a clean weekend...