Leclerc ends Ferrari 2019 running with test crash

Charles Leclerc saw his 2019 running with Ferrari come to an early end after crashing out of the final Formula 1 post-season test in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

Leclerc has starred through much of his debut season with Ferrari, scoring seven pole positions and two race wins to end the year fourth in the standings, beating teammate Sebastian Vettel.

Leclerc bid farewell to the Ferrari SF90 car he has driven through his first year at Maranello in the final collective running of the year, taking place at the Yas Marina Circuit.

But a crash at Turn 13 with two hours left in the day brought Leclerc’s running to a premature end after he lost control over one of the kerbs.

Leclerc ended the day P2 in the timesheets, 0.197 seconds off pace-setter George Russell for Mercedes, and with 103 laps on the board.

As per Ferrari, Leclerc “emerged unscathed, however there was quite a bit of damage to the SF90. Once the extent of the work required to get it track worthy again had been assessed with the car back in the garage, it was decided to call a halt to the Abu Dhabi test”.

“This was our last day on track and I think it was useful, despite the accident which meant I had to stop early,” said Leclerc.

“We did a lot of comparison testing of the 2020 tyres up against this year’s and acquired a lot of data which will now be analysed in depth.

“Now we can switch off for a while, but I will never forget my first season with Scuderia Ferrari and I’m sure that it won’t be long until I want to be back on track.”

Leclerc’s next official Ferrari appearance will come at the start of 2020 pre-season testing, starting on February 19 in Barcelona.