F1's racing brothers: the Leclercs join an exclusive list

A promotion to Formula 2 with DAMS in 2023 then saw Arthur pick up points finishes in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Spain, Britain, Italy and Abu Dhabi, as well as a podium result for the feature race in Melbourne. 

More recently, Leclerc Jr has been based mainly in Maranello — carrying out his development driver duties aboard the simulator — but has continued to race, now in sports cars: piloting a Ferrari 296 GT3 in the Italian GT Championship and turning out in the 2024 European Le Mans Series with Panis Racing.

Should Arthur impress during his FP1 appearance in Abu Dhabi, could it kickstart a return to single-seaters or even spur the possibility of a long-term racing partnership with his elder brother? 

As of now, it’s unlikely. Nevertheless, racing alongside Charles at Yas Marina this weekend will still get the Leclerc name onto a historic list, filled with F1’s racing brothers. 

Some, like the Leclercs, were lucky enough to share the same tarmac. 

Michael and Ralf Schumacher remain the series’ most successful and arguably most famous brotherly duo, scoring a combined 97 race victories (91 of them belonging to Michael) and racing at the front end of the grid — albeit at different outfits — for much of the early noughties. 

The pair even claimed a historic 1-2 finish at the 2001 Canadian Grand Prix — becoming the first brothers to stand together on the top two steps of the podium — with Ralf’s Williams leading home Michael’s Ferrari. 

27 years earlier, in 1974, Jody Scheckter shared the South African Grand Prix with his elder brother Ian — the former finishing eighth for Tyrrell while the latter finished 13th for Lotus. 

The pair continued to race together in Formula 1 until 1977, although with contrasting levels of success. Jody secured seven race victories and later a title-winning drive with Ferrari, while Ian’s best-ever finish was 10th at the 1977 Dutch GP. 

A similar chasm in performance was seen in the 36 grands prix that the Fittipaldi brothers — Emerson and Wilson — shared between 1972 and 1975. While the former earned drivers’ world championships with Lotus in 1972 and with McLaren in 1974, the latter largely struggled, only managing to score points at the Argentine and German GPs in 1973. 

The Brazilians later set up their own team for 1976 — Fittipaldi Ford — but only Emerson drove, while Wilson stuck to the sidelines.

But at least, at one point or another, the Schumachers, Scheckters and Fittipaldis got to live out their F1 dreams side-by-side. Other brothers weren’t so lucky. 

Teo and Corrado Fabi managed the truly unique achievement of starting 76 grands prix between them from 1982 and 1987, yet never appeared in the same race once.

Older brother Teo arrived first in F1, driving for Toleman in an abysmal 1982 season with a car that was too slow to even make qualifying in most rounds. He moved to IndyCar in 1983, at which point Corrado joined the F1 grid with Osella.

Corrado didn’t have much more luck in his maiden year at the small independent team. In America, however, Teo, was blazing a trail. He claimed four race wins; started on pole at the Indy 500; and was second in the championship, as well as being named Rookie of the Year.

Teo chose to race on both sides of the Atlantic in 1984, combining IndyCar with a Brabham F1 seat. That led to a fraternal arrangement for the three weekends where there was a clash: Teo raced in America while Corrado filled his seat at Brabham.

It was not a model others followed. The ‘Fabi car’ scored nine points that year, all courtesy of Teo. Team-mate Nelson Piquet bagged 29. This time IndyCar beckoned for Corrado, while Teo returned to Toleman.

Manfred and Jo Winkelhock raced at opposite ends of the same decade, with the former competing in 47 races for ATS, Brabham and RAM from 1981 to 1985, while the latter made a fleeting appearance in the 1989 campaign for AGS — failing to qualify for the first seven races before being replaced. 

But to this day, F1’s greatest brotherly ‘What If?’ belongs to the Rodriguez brothers. Ricardo, the younger of the two, became the talk of the paddock when at 19 he started on the front row of his first race at the 1961 Italian Grand Prix. But only four F1 race appearances later, he lost his life at the non-championship Mexican Grand Prix. 

His elder brother Pedro raced on and became a racing legend in his own right, starting 54 grands prix and claiming two victories, before he too was killed in a sports car crash at the Norisring in 1971.