Carlos Sainz Jr of Ferrari from Saudi GP with appendicitis.  Oliver Bearman steps up at 18 |  Sports

Carlos Sainz Jr of Ferrari from Saudi GP with appendicitis. Oliver Bearman steps up at 18 | Sports


Ferrari has a new British driver, and it’s not Lewis Hamilton. Carlos Sainz Jr was ruled out of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with appendicitis requiring surgery on Friday and Ferrari gave 18-year-old Oliver Bearman his Formula 1 debut an hour before qualifying.

“Carlos is out of surgery. Everything went well and now he is resting in the hospital. We are sending him our full support for a speedy recovery,” Ferrari said on Friday.

The team has promoted Bearman, its British reserve driver who normally competes in Formula 2, for the remainder of the race weekend starting with Friday’s third practice session.

Bearman was 10th fastest in the period and did not look bad in F1. He aimed to gain experience with long simulated races rather than single-lap runs. Bearman managed 22 laps, more than any other driver, in a session that was interrupted when Zhou Guanyu spun his Sauber into the barriers.

Bearman is set to become the third youngest driver to make his F1 debut, behind only Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll, who were 17 and 18, respectively, when they made their debuts.

Saturday’s Grand Prix would make Bearman the youngest driver to race for Ferrari, breaking the record set in 1961 by Mexico’s Ricardo Rodríguez, who was 19 when he competed in the Italian Grand Prix.

Ferrari will have its first full-time British F1 driver this century when seven-time champion Hamilton replaces Sainz at the team for the 2025 season.

Bearman previously ran two practice sessions in Mexico and Abu Dhabi last year as a test driver for the Haas team. He had qualified on pole position in F2 this weekend but will take no further part in the event.

The difference in speed between the two series was highlighted when defending F1 champion Max Verstappen went faster in practice on Friday with a lap time that was almost 14 seconds faster than Bearman’s lap for the F2 pole position. Bearman’s fastest practice time was 0.894 seconds off Verstappen.

Sainz drove in both of Thursday’s practice sessions in Saudi Arabia, sixth and seventh fastest, but said he was feeling unwell and that it was affecting his driving.

“Obviously a very difficult day after feeling sick, the last 24 hours have been difficult and difficult for me,” Sainz said on Thursday. “Today was about trying to stay fit and learn as much as possible from the car without pushing the limits too much as I was still on the wrong side.”

Sainz’s next chance to return to F1 is at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 24.

“Get well soon,” Williams driver Alex Albon wrote to Sainz on X, formerly Twitter. “I know a good surgeon if you need one.”

Albon missed the Italian Grand Prix in 2022 with appendicitis, handing Nyck de Vries his F1 debut as a replacement, but returned in the following race in Singapore.

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