Verstappen not interested in "bitch fight" with Leclerc

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has insisted he has zero interest in getting involved in a "bitch fight" with Charles Leclerc after the pair clashed last weekend.

Verstappen and Leclerc both retired on lap one of the Sakhir Grand Prix after the latter made contact with eventual race winner Sergio Perez, which in turn forced the Red Bull driver off the track.

Although Leclerc admitted fault for the incident, the pair engaged in a tit-for-tat war of words, with the Moneégasque driver claiming Verstappen sometimes comes out with "silly comments" after the Dutchman described the move on Perez as "reckless".

Verstappen, however, is not keen to drag out the feud and asked about whether the pair needed to talk together to ease tensions he answered: “I’m not interested at all. I just want to do the race here and then go home. It is what it is. “There’s no point trying to have a bitch fight, keep going on poking each other, it doesn’t matter. We both retired and it is what it is.”

Verstappen was forced to take action to avoid colliding with a spinning Perez, only to end up in a gravel trap and then a barrier, which he kicked in frustration after stepping out of his car.

“I didn’t see the gravel because if I had done anything else I would have tried to brake more and tried to wait for Checo to stop spinning basically," added Verstappen. "I would probably have got hit by Charles because his wheel was hanging off.

“So there was nowhere to go and it was just super-unlucky that there was a bit of gravel and that is why you just understeer into the wall.”

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

F1 and MotoGP crossover planned for United States Grand Prix

• 1 hour ago

Laurent Mekies claims Max Verstappen has won F1 titles with Red Bull cars similar to this year

• 2 hours ago

Christian Horner F1 rival crucial to landing him team boss role

• 3 hours ago

Lewis Hamilton will 'kick himself' over 'careless' Ferrari mistake

• Yesterday 19:42

Lawrence Stroll given Adrian Newey deadline on Aston Martin F1 performance

• Yesterday 18:45

F1 president reacts after German Grand Prix return plans unveiled

• Yesterday 17:29