Ferrari Wrap Up: Team Updates On Carlos Sainz’s Smooth Operation, Ferrari Gets Its Youngest Driver Ollie Bearman

At the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Round 2 of the Formula One 2024 season, Sainz did not participate in media duties on Wednesday. However, he returned to the vehicle for the two one-hour practice sessions on Thursday, albeit acknowledging that he was far from 100%.

Ferrari Wrap-Up: Team Updates On Carlos Sainz’s Smooth Operation, Ferrari Gets Its Youngest Driver Ollie Bearman

Oliver Bearman, a Formula 2 racer and Ferrari’s 18-year-old reserve driver, will take over for Sainz as he was taken to the hospital early on Friday morning to undergo surgery for appendicitis. Sainz had planned to continue his preparations for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend.

Sainz’s operation went well, thankfully, according to Vasseur; but, aside from the fact that he will not be competing in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix going forward, Vasseur is unsure when Sainz will be back in the Ferrari.

Due to Sainz’s injury, Ferrari was forced to substitute British F2 driver and Ferrari reserve driver Ollie Bearman for the Spaniard for practice, qualifying, and the Grand Prix.

Bearman, who was born in 2005, is the first driver to make their Formula 1 debut following Michael Schumacher’s seventh championship win. At just eighteen years old, he is the youngest driver to have ever competed for Ferrari.

Bearman has driven an F1 vehicle before, though. He made an appearance during Haas’ open practice sessions and left a lasting impression. This season, he plans to get into the vehicle for a couple more outings.

Bearman may have been thrown into the deep end in Saudi Arabia, but he has experience with contemporary F1 technology, having participated in two FP1 sessions for the Ferrari customer team Haas in 2023.

Vasseur also feels that Bearman’s drive to what would have been pole for the F2 Saudi GP main race, together with his experience driving one of the previous Ferrari contenders in a test, all served as excellent preparation.

“He drove before the old car the TPC [Testing of Previous Cars, ed.] a couple of months ago and he did very well,” Vasseur confirmed.

“Last year, he did two FP1 with Haas in Mexico and I don’t remember the other one [Abu Dhabi, ed.], and he did a good job on these two.

After a strong run, he almost missed qualifying for the third round. Points in his first race are very much on the line because he will start the Grand Prix in position P11.

Considering that he was operating F2 cars the day before, which had a lap time of around 12 seconds slower, it is rather remarkable.

In 2025, there will be plenty of open spaces on the grid, especially at Haas, who appear to be quite interested in Bearman. This is a fantastic chance for Bearman to demonstrate his abilities and maybe get a slot for the next season.

Has Carlos Sainz ever won a race in F1?

Following the conclusion of the 2020 season, Sainz joined Ferrari. Sainz achieved his first-ever Formula One pole position and career victory at the 2022 British Grand Prix. At the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix, he won his second Formula One race after qualifying on the pole for the fifth time in his career.

Why is Carlos Sainz not racing in Saudi?

With appendicitis necessitating surgery on Friday, Carlos Sainz Jr. was ruled out of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and hours before qualifying, 18-year-old Oliver Bearman made his Formula 1 debut with Ferrari.

 

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