Leclerc sparkles for Alfa Romeo in the Mille Miglia

@ Sauber F1 Team

Alfa Romeo was able to inject some modern Formula 1 glamour into the historic Mille Miglia on Saturday.

The original Mille Miglia was an open-road endurance race which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957. This year marks the 91st anniversary of the original event.

Sauber drivers Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc were driving in the fourth leg of the final day of the event.

That took them from the centre of Milan, through the Museo Storico Alfa Romeo in Arese, and on to the parade end of Brescia.

The automobile club of Brescia has been holding the Mille Miglia since 2012. Only models that competed in the original road race between 1927 and 1957 are eligible to take part.

In Arese, both drivers were in the Gran Premio Tipo B, the 1932 single-seater and the iconic Barchetta of the 750 Competizione.

"A wonderful opportunity and a great honour to be involved in such an iconic event," said the team in a statement to the press. "The weather could not be more beautiful and the boys more excited then ever!"

"Great to drive this beast!" Leclerc posted on social media network Twitter afterwards. "Back to the 30's!

"How amazing to experience what the drivers used to feel 90 years ago," he added. "A bit different, isn't it ? Definitely have the 30s style though."

@ Sauber F1 Team

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.