The Haas F1 Team will be giving Charles Leclerc the chance of a life time, as they announce his Formula One debut at the British Grand Prix. Along with his practice sessions in Britain, he will also be taking part in an additional four sessions in the season.
Leclerc, a GP3 Series driver for ART Grand Prix, is currently a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy. He is currently leading the GP3 Championship, having won the opening feature race of the season. The Monaco born 18 year old has experienced some impressive success in his career, having won a total of 11 championships in karting over a period of eight years. He has also managed to gather an impressive amount of victories and podiums in Formula Renault 2.0 and the FIA European Formula 3 Championship.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to get seat time in a Formula One car and I can’t thank Haas F1 Team and Esteban enough,” Leclerc told the press. “I’m honored by the faith Haas F1 Team and Ferrari have in me. This is an important step toward my ultimate goal of becoming a Formula One driver.”
Leclerc will be getting behind the wheel of a Formula One car for the first time during the first free practice session for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. He will be replacing the Haas F1 Team’s regular driver, Esteban Gutiérrez, for the session. We will see him again during the first free practice sessions for the Hungarian Grand Prix, German Grand Prix, Malaysian Grand Prix and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He will be replacing Gutiérrez in all of those sessions.
“Charles Leclerc is highly regarded by Ferrari and his record speaks for itself. We’re happy to provide this opportunity and help develop the next generation of Formula One drivers,” explained the Team Principal of the Haas F1 Team, Guenther Steiner. “Credit also goes to Esteban for sharing his racecar and serving as a mentor to Charles.”
The British Grand Prix will be held on the weekend of July 10, as Formula One holds another back-to-back race weekend, visiting Austria the weekend prior.
