Lewis Hamilton replaced by Charles Leclerc’s brother to avoid F1 rule breach

Lewis Hamilton will miss FP1 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and be replaced by Charles Leclerc’s younger brother.

The move will ensure Ferrari field a rookie on the mandatory four occasions after a rule change at the start of the year.

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Previously teams only had to put a rookie – a driver who has participated in no more than two F1 races in his career – into two FP1 sessions.

Now, though, that’s been upped to two per car.

This means Arthur Leclerc will join his brother on the track at the Yas Marina circuit for the second year running.

In 2024, the duo raced together with Arthur finishing FP1 in P18, 1.858s behind Charles.

The 25-year-old serves as a reserve driver at Ferrari along with Antonio Giovinazzi, while also racing for AF Corse in GT3.

This year he’s competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona as he takes part in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, while he also races in the sprint version.

Arthur previously raced in Formula 3 in 2021 and 2022 for Prema, finishing 10th and then sixth.

Meanwhile, in 2023 he finished 15th in Formula 2.

Speaking ahead of last year’s session together, his brother Charles said: “We spoke about it but he’s my brother.

“I don’t have to speak to him to know what he feels or what he thinks and I know he’s going to do a great job.

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“He’s been exceptional on the simulator this year and he has helped us so much.

“It’s going to be a super good exercise to correlate that with the virtual laps he does quite often on the sim and it’s going to be a very special moment for him.

“So I hope everything will go well and I’m really happy.”

Hamilton has plenty of experience at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi so missing out will not make much difference for the F1 icon.

The seven-time title winner, though, will know this is his last chance to secure a podium in a feature race this season.

Overall his first campaign with Ferrari, fulfilling his lifelong ambition, has been a real let down with just a sprint race win in China to show for his efforts.

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It will be his first ever F1 season without a podium finish in his 20-year career.

However, he’s currently on course to finish sixth in the drivers’ standings, one position higher than the seventh he managed in his last season with Mercedes.