Leclerc brothers set to make history in Abu Dhabi

Charles Leclerc will be a part of an emotional piece of F1 history during FP1 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with the Ferrari driver set to partner with his younger brother Arthur in what will be the first instance of brothers running as teammates in an F1 session.

Needing to tick off one last mandated rookie driver session for the year, Carlos Sainz will sit out the opening practice session of his final weekend as a Ferrari driver, instead gifting the hour of running to Arthur Leclerc.

Arthur competed in Formula 2 during 2023, rounding out the season 15th in the standings after achieving a total of 10 points finishes including a trip to the podium at the Australian Grand Prix.

This year, the Monegasque raced in the Italian GT championship and the European Le Mans Series, while also working as a Development Driver at Ferrari to support the team through simulator work in Maranello.

Ferrari’s previous 2024 rookie driver sessions were covered by Ferrari Academy and Reserve Driver, Oliver Bearman, with Charles sitting out FP1 back in Mexico, however, the incoming Haas F1 driver no longer qualifies as a rookie driver. 

Fulfilling his duties as Ferrari Reserve Driver in Saudi Arabia, Bearman made his F1 debut to cover for Carlos Sainz who was rushed into emergency surgery for appendicitis.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix marked Bearman’d debut with his 2025 team, with the 19-year-old partnering with Nico Hulkenberg for the weekend while Kevin Magnussen served his one-race ban.

In Brazil, it was a similar situation to Jeddah when the Brit had to step up to Formula 1 once again, however, this time, it was to cover for Magnussen who had fallen ill ahead of the first day of running. 

As a result, Bearman no longer fits into the rookie confinements with three F1 races to his name — during which he became the first driver to score points for two different teams in his first two Grand Prix starts — meaning Ferrari was forced to nominate a different driver to complete the mandated FP1 session. 

Prior to Charles starting his F1 career with Alfa Romeo in 2018, the Leclerc brothers lost their father to a long illness in 2017, with the now-Ferrari driver infamously telling his father a white lie about signing his first F1 contract in the days leading up to his passing, just one month before the dream became a reality and #16’s guilty conscious was self-admittedly cleared. 

Sharing the announcement on his Instagram story, Charles said: “Someone is proud from up there”.

The final FP1 session of 2024, and the first hour of running around the Yas Marina Circuit, will kick off at 20:30 AEDT on Friday.

Image: Carl Bingham / LAT Images

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