Leclerc gives up Haas FP1 run to focus on GP3 title

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Charles Leclerc has decided to give up his final FP1 run of the season for Haas at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to focus on the GP3 title showdown.

The Monegasque driver has taken part in four Friday practice sessions so far for Haas, driving for the new team in Britain, Hungary and Germany earlier this season before also making an appearance in Brazil last time out. Leclerc was due to finish the season with another FP1 run in Abu Dhabi, but with the GP3 championship still to be decided has opted to focus solely on his title challenge.

"A really hard decision to make but I won't be driving in Abu Dhabi during the Free Practice 1 with Haas because of the timetable," Leclerc posted on his Twitter account.

"I want to be 100% focused on my GP3 title. Doing the FP1 would have meant I had to jump from the F1 straight into GP3's qualifying."

Leclerc is currently leading the GP3 standings after an impressive season, holding a 29-point lead over Alex Albon ahead of the final two races in Abu Dhabi.

The GP2 title is also on the line at the final round, with Prema Powerteam team-mates Antonio Giovanazzi and Pierre Gasly - separated by seven points - the two favourites, while Raffaele Marciello is also technically still in contention. Marciello is 39 points behind championship leader Giovanazzi with a maximum of 46 points available.

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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.