Leclerc: Verstappen Silverstone battle what F1 wants

Charles Leclerc was happy to deliver "what Formula 1 wants" in his battles with Max Verstappen at the British Grand Prix.

Leclerc had been unable to withstand Verstappen in Austria two weeks' prior, but put up a much sterner resistance to the Red Bull man in a thrilling set of battles, as well as repassing the Dutchman after he had moved ahead in a rapid pit-stop.

Having made good on pre-race promises to push harder in wheel-to-wheel combat after seeing Verstappen go unpunished at the Red Bull Ring, Leclerc says the new style will remain.

"After Austria I think if the stewards accept us to race that way then I'm more than happy to race like this, and that's what I did this weekend," he said.

"So nothing special, I just raced harder than normal because I feel like in the last two races or maybe a bit before Formula 1 wants hard racing.

"I think we are pushing as drivers to have hard racing, that's where we enjoy the most to be racing like that and that's what I did today."

Leclerc and Verstappen's battles delighted the Silverstone crowd, as well as the Monegasque himself.

"That was definitely the most fun I've ever had in my Formula 1 career," he said.

"I think that Austria was quite an eye-opener for me to understand how far we could go and what was accepted and I'm very happy at the end to race like this.

"I think every driver wants to race hard and that's what we did during most of the race. It was very, very fun, always borderline, but I think always in the rules and very, very enjoyable from the car."

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