Arthur Leclerc to join brother Charles at Ferrari for Abu Dhabi FP1

Ferrari has announced its development driver Arthur Leclerc will replace Carlos Sainz during first free practice at Formula 1’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, forming a unique line-up with his elder brother Charles.

As part of F1’s requirement to enter a rookie driver in two FP1 sessions, Ferrari has opted to hand Sainz’s Ferrari SF-24 to the younger of the two Leclerc brothers at the Yas Marina circuit.

Like his brother before him, Leclerc came through the ranks as part of the Ferrari academy. After moderately successful campaigns in F3 and F2, the 24-year-old stepped back from single-seater racing this year, focusing on supporting the F1 team as a development driver in its Maranello simulator. 

He has also conducted two tests for Ferrari this year; one in January in Barcelona at the behest of Pirelli, and an FIA test at Fiorano in May to trial the ultimately unsuccessful spray guard prototypes.

Leclerc also competed in the European Le Mans Series, taking an LMP2 race win for Panis Racing by TDS, and won the Italian GT Championship in a Ferrari 296GT alongside former F1 racer Giancarlo Fisichella and Tommaso Mosca.

They will be the first brothers to share the track in a grand prix session since Michael and Ralf Schumacher, who raced each other for 10 consecutive seasons between 1997 and 2006.

Ferrari is bidding farewell to Sainz this weekend, with the Spaniard joining his new team Williams from Tuesday’s post-season test onwards after four seasons at the Scuderia, which yielded four wins and six pole positions.

The team, which will welcome seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton next year, still has a chance to dethrone McLaren in the constructors’ championship, with the papaya squad heading into the 2024 season finale with a 21-point lead.