Lestappen

"Of course I have a lot of respect for Max. He has done very well and I have a lot of respect for what he has achieved. When we drove in karts, we dreamed of Formula 1 together and here we are now! He has the title I won and I have a lot of respect for that."

- Charles about Max

Lestappen is the friendship between drivers Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen from the Formula 1 fandom.

Canon
Charles and Max are known friendly rivals in Formula 1, Charles being a driver for Scuderia Ferrari, and Max for Red Bull Racing. They’ve known each other since their karting days having hatred for one another before. In one old video, an interviewer asked Max what had happened as Charles pushed Max to win the race but was pushed back by Max. Charles still pushed Max out of the way at the end of the race and he expressed to interviewers that Charles was “unfair”. Charles then plays it off as an incident. Years later, Charles is seen laughing about the moment at the WSK Euro Series as it was mentioned by interviewers again.

Although the two aren’t the same team, it’s one of the most loved duos in the F1 fandom due to their intense more than 10-year rivalry. As Charles mentioned in a video, he and Max have known each other since the start of their career. In a few races, the two would be clashing with one another trying to lead. Compared to their stats, Max has more podiums and poles than Charles. As well as Max being a 3x world champion while Charles hasn’t won as of yet the championship.

Outside of Formula 1 activities they would be playing other sports such as padel. The two like many other drivers on the grid reside in Monaco. The two also have nicknames for one another in an interview, Charles being ‘Charlie’ and Max being ‘Maxie’. In one video for Red Bull, Max could differentiate Charles’s team radio as he was quizzed on famous team radios, the team radio being “I’m stupid” in Baku. Max has mentioned he could work well with Charles if he and Charles were ever to become teammates.

Fanon
It’s currently one of the most popular friendships in Formula 1 due to many fans linking them to the ‘Enemies to Lovers’ trope. The incident between Max and Charles is also one of the most meme in the fandom as Charles said ‘Just an inchident’. This friendship currently rivals Maxiel, Max’s most popular friendship and the most popular friendship in Formula 1. On AO3 they have more than 3k works.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

Trivia

 * Currently Charles and Max do not follow each other on Instagram despite being close in the paddock.
 * It’s a common joke that the two unfollowed each other on Instagram due to the incident in the 2019 Austria GP, although the two did unfollow each other on FB.