WATCH: Verstappen & Leclerc Joke About Their 'Inchident' At Las Vegas Grand Prix

Tuesday, 21 November 2023 at 06:00

Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc saw the funny side of their first-lap fight at the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, which resulted in a five-second penalty for the Dutch driver.

In 2012, during the second round of the WSK Euro Series, two talented drivers had an incident in their karts, which left both of them unhappy. After the race, Verstappen was very passionate about what happened, while Leclerc only summarized: "Nothing, just an inchident."

The Monegasque driver, still young and learning English, mispronounced the word "inchident" and a few years later, when he became one of the most popular drivers in the world, it became a funny meme among F1 fans.

During the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, which was won by Verstappen, the two had a very hard fight during the first lap, as the Dutch driver pushed his rival off the race track.

There was no contact made between the two, and it ended well as Leclerc was able to finish the race second, while the three-time World Champion got a five-second time penalty which halted his progress.

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After the race, the two spoke about what happened, and both had admitted that their discussions about on-track incidents are now much calmer than before, as Verstappen mentioned the famous "inchident."

“"Of course, we had that little moment, but I explained to Charles what happened, and it would also be the debriefing. I think that's just something we do naturally, we do that already from back in the day from go-karting."”

— Max Verstappen.

Leclerc also talked about the situation, remembering that before, their relationship after such moments was more tense, but the two know each other so well right now, that they can talk more calmly.

“"Yeah, exactly. However, the debriefs we had back in the day were a bit more tense (laughs), but now we're a bit calmer."”

— Charles Leclerc.

While the Monegasque driver talked about their previous debriefs, Verstappen chimed in, saying: "The inchident." Both saw the funny side and the press conference continued with a humorous tone.