The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend timetable has not been kind to Charles Leclerc, forcing him to choose between vying for the 2016 GP3 Series title or an FP1 session with Haas at the season finale.
Leclerc wrote on Twitter, “A really hard decision to make but I won’t be driving in Abu Dhabi during the Free Practice 1 with Haas F1 Team because of the timetable.”
“I want to be 100% focus on my GP3 title. Doing the FP1 would have mean, I had to jump from the F1 straight into GP3’s qualifying,” added the 18 year old.
The driver from Monaco was to replace Esteban Gutierrez for a fifth FP1 session, this time at the Yas Marina Circuit.
But Leclerc heads to the GP3 season finale with a 27 point lead over ART Grand Prix team-mate Alexander Albon, thus his priority will be to wrap up the title without the distraction of a F1 foray on Friday.
A really hard decision to make but I won’t be driving in Abu Dhabi during the Free Practice 1 with @HaasF1Team because of the timetable. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/mXW0vcQODt
— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) November 17, 2016
I want to be 100% focus on my GP3 title. Doing the FP1 would have mean, I had to jump from the F1 straight into GP3’s qualifying. 😕 2/2
— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) November 17, 2016