Nico Rosberg: Friendly rivalry between Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc won’t last

Nico Rosberg believes that Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen could soon see their respectful relationship start to come under pressure.

Leclerc and Verstappen grew up competing against one another on the karting circuit and both have acknowledged that the knowledge they share of one another allows them to compete without tempers boiling over, and with a notable absence of on-track contact.

The same could not be said of the Red Bull driver and his previous direct rival, Lewis Hamilton, with the pair sharing an antipathy for much of the past two years.

However, former world champion Rosberg believes Verstappen and the Ferrari man may soon find themselves at odds.

“Red Bull have the advantage of having Perez there as well, whereas Sainz is way back, so maybe Red Bull could use Perez strategically to help Verstappen jump Leclerc.

“There are going to be some different strategies in play. Ferrari, we know, have issues with their tyre degradation so it’s going to be a really tough one for Leclerc to bring this home today.

“These guys have been going wheel-to-wheel all season and at some point, there’s going to be that first contact and the first heated discussion happening… maybe that will be today as well!?”