Ferrari junior Charles Leclerc has given up his final FP1 appearance with Haas in order to focus on the GP3 title showdown.
The Monaco-born driver has competed in the opening practice session in Britain, Hungary, Germany and Brazil and was due a fifth appearance at Yas Marina. The GP3 championship leader holds a 29-point lead over Alexander Albon with two races at Abu Dhabi to run but has decided to forgo his last scheduled drive of an F1 car in 2016.
Leclerc announced the decision on his official Twitter page.
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
With F1 seats at a premium and Haas opting against taking Leclerc for 2017, the Ferrari development driver looks set for a step up to GP2 next season.