Russell has found himself in hot water this weekend with this year's champion Max Verstappen, the pair embroiled in a number of heated exchanges off-track, with the tension sure to spill out on track at some point in Abu Dhabi.
25 minutes into the first session of the 2024 finale and Leclerc finally joined the track, making history by joining his brother Arthur, making them the first brothers to compete in the same session in the same year on the same team in F1.
Ferrari now sit just 21 points behind McLaren in the constructors' standings, so the performance of both teams in Abu Dhabi is vital to determine the 2024 championship.
FP1 in Abu Dhabi also featured six rookies with Ryo Hirakawa replacing Oscar Piastri, Arthur Leclerc standing in for Carlos Sainz, Felipe Drugovich for Lance Stroll, Luke Browning taking Alex Albon's seat and Ayumu Iwasa in place of Yuki Tsunoda.
Despite being the final grand prix of the year, the 24th round also marks the debut of Jack Doohan, who has replaced Esteban Ocon early ahead of his already confirmed entry to the team for 2025.