Hamilton to miss the opening practice in Abu Dhabi
Ferrari's seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is set to miss the opening sixty-minute practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as he will hand over his SF-25 to Arthur Leclerc.
On the back of a hugely disappointing weekend in Qatar, Ferrari have announced that Lewis Hamilton will sit out the first session, with Arthur Leclerc taking the wheel for the second time at a Grand Prix weekend to run alongside his brother.
A year ago, the Monegasque stood in for Carlos Sainz, as part of Scuderia Ferrari HP’s commitment to giving young drivers valuable track time, in accordance with the rule that each race driver must twice be replaced during practice by a driver with no more than two Grands Prix to their name, for a free practice session.
Speaking ahead of his FP1 outing, Leclerc said: "Charles and I are very happy to be driving again together in FP1. It’s very exciting to be in a car on the other side of the garage from him.
"From a technical point of view, driving the car on track is always useful for us drivers who mainly support the team with our work in the simulator back in Maranello. It helps us to give better feedback to the engineers."
Asked about the Yas Marina track, Arthur Leclerc revealed that he particularly likes the opening segment of the circuit due to the high-speed corners.
"Without a doubt, my favourite part is the first sector. That’s where you are most aware of the amount of downforce these cars generate. You take turns 2 and 3 flat and they are very fast.
"It is one of those sections where you truly realise just how quick is a Formula 1 car and I always enjoy tackling it," the Monegasque added.
As for the target of his outing, Leclerc reckoned that his focus will be on improving the correlation between the real track and the simulation tools.
"In terms of physical preparation, I’ve worked mainly on my neck, which is where you most feel the G forces, and I also did a lot of cardio work. On the technical side, obviously I worked a lot in the simulator to be as well prepared as possible.
"My job will be to provide useful feedback on what we are testing and gather as much data as possible to improve the correlation between the performance on track and the results we see in the Maranello simulator."
