Sauber has confirmed that tester Charles Leclerc will drive Pascal Wehrlein’s car during this weekend’s opening practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Leclerc is set to take part in his final of four planned FP1 runs, having received outings in the C36-Ferrari in Malaysia, the United States and Mexico.
The Monegasque youngster also participated in last week’s tyre test at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, completing two days of running.
Wehrlein, who will take over from FP2, is optimistic that Sauber can continue on its recent upwards trajectory.
“The unpredictable weather in Interlagos adds some excitement to the weekend, as you never know what to expect,” he said.
“As a team, we have made some progress over the past two race weekends, so I am heading to São Paolo with a positive feeling.
“I look forward to being back in the car and to continuing to work in the right direction.”
Team-mate Marcus Ericsson, having run inside the top 10 in Mexico, is also upbeat over Sauber’s prospects.
“During the last race in Mexico I was able to fight my way into the midfield, which was a progress compared to the previous GP weekends,” he said.
“Therefore, I am optimistic that we will be building on that and making further improvements. It is definitely good to get back in the car in Interlagos.”
