F1: Max Verstappen can understand Charles Leclerc's emotional outburst after French GP crash

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen understood why Charles Leclerc was so hard on himself after crashing last weekend, and the reigning Formula One champion feels it's healthy for Leclerc to let his emotions out.

Leclerc looks to bounce back at Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix after putting his Ferrari into the barriers while leading the French GP. That error gifted Verstappen a win to open up a huge 63-point lead in the overall standings.

Leclerc screamed 'Noooo!' and said he didn't deserve to win a world championship driving like that, leading observers to question if he was beating himself up too much. But Verstappen, who has been emotional after DNFs and reliability issues, said it's just Leclerc's way of dealing with disappointment.

"Everyone handles that in a different way. Some people need to reflect on it like that. At the time you're still a bit emotional from what just happened and maybe become a bit too emotional," the Red Bull driver told The Associated Press during an interview on Thursday.

"But that's fine, people should be emotional, they should show their emotions."

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Leclerc and Verstappen are both 24 years old and were rivals in karting before slugging it out in F1. The mutual respect has grown between them after some hard, but fair, wheel-to-wheel racing at the front this season.

"There's no doubt about his general performance and pace. 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," Verstappen told the AP.

"These drivers stood out already when they were younger. They just have this little extra compared to other drivers."

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