Charles Leclerc’s emotional Abu Dhabi: from FP1 with his brother to Carlos Sainz’s last race for Ferrari. The Abu Dhabi GP will be an emotional event for several reasons, many of which will center on Ferrari.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be an emotional event for several reasons, many of which will center on Ferrari. The Maranello team will give everything to recover the 21-point gap to McLaren in an attempt to snatch the Constructors’ World Championship title at the last minute and return to the top of the world for the first time since 2008. But that’s not all.

In the first Free Practice session, Ferrari’s lineup will feature Charles Leclerc and his brother Arthur. A truly memorable moment for the Monegasque family and the history of F1, as it will be the first time two brothers take to the track as teammates. “It will certainly be a very, very special moment not just for me, not just for Arthur, but I think for the whole family because we know how many sacrifices my parents made when I was younger to keep us going,” said #16 during a media meeting. “Luckily for them, my older brother decided to take another path, that of academics, which cost much less, but my younger brother and I had only one dream: to become professional drivers. Of course, my younger brother didn’t have the same opportunities I had because he had to stop his career for five years as my parents couldn’t afford it for both of us. I know how important it was for my father to restart Arthur’s career. Tomorrow will be very special for this reason, for what my father gave us to pursue our dream. It will be a moment we will surely remember forever, and for the future, I don’t know. For now, I’m enjoying the moment. It’s a dream for both of us, and my whole family will fly from Monaco to be here and enjoy this moment during FP1. Then we’ll also focus on the weekend because it will be very important for the team, but FP1 will be a very special moment.” – he pointed out.

These moments will be joined by others on the 5.281-kilometre Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island, again involving a teammate. In Abu Dhabi, Charles Leclerc will race his final event alongside Carlos Sainz before the #55 takes part in his first post-season tests at the wheel of the Williams: “In the past few days, I’ve seen some misleading headlines that took my words out of context, especially about not missing Carlos. I only meant that because he’ll be just 20 meters away in the paddock,” he clarified. “Honestly, I’ve had an incredible relationship with Carlos. Truly, he’s a great person. We’ve always had a great relationship. Yes, sometimes we’ve had issues on track, but that’s normal. In the end, we’re both racing for Ferrari and also trying to win races, and when we’re so close on track, sometimes there are disagreements. What I’ll remember is that every time there was this kind of problem, we always came out of it stronger and more united. We have a really good relationship. We also share many things off the track, and I’m sure that even if he won’t be in red next year, we’ll most likely still travel together during races to spend time together because our relationship is really good. I wish him all the best.” – the Monegasque driver concluded ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend.