Ferrari is faced with a sudden driver change for the Saudi Arabian GP with Carlos Sainz forced to miss the race weekend due to appendicitis and Scuderia junior Oliver Bearman stepping into the breach.
The Spaniard first hinted at trouble earlier in the week, skipping media commitments on Wednesday due to feeling unwell. Despite this, he managed to participate in both Thursday's practice sessions, even clocking the seventh-fastest time in FP2.
However, Sainz himself reported limitations in pushing the car to its full potential, hinting at lingering issues.
The reason for his earlier struggles became clear on Friday, with the Spaniard diagnosed with a case of appendicitis.
Oliver Bearman was originally scheduled to compete in Saturday's Formula 2 feature race after securing pole position during qualifying.
Now, he'll be thrust into the F1 spotlight, taking over Sainz's car starting for Friday's third practice session and this evening’s qualifying.
©Ferrari
This unexpected turn of events throws a curveball at Ferrari's strategy for the Saudi Arabian GP. Bearman, a talented prospect, will have a baptism by fire as he adjusts to the demands of a full-fledged F1 race weekend.
However, the 18-year-old young gun is no stranger to F1 machinery. As a prized member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, Bearman has already gained valuable experience behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car in private tests at Fiorano.
Additionally, the Briton also ran with Haas in FP1 last year in Mexico City and in Abu Dhabi.
Unfortunately, Prema has been forced to withdraw Bearman’s pole-winning car, as F2's sporting regulations don’t allow a driver to race in both F1 and F2 on the same Grand Prix weekend.
"While we are sad to withdraw the #3 car that was starting from pole at Jeddah, we are delighted to see Ollie make his F1 debut," Prema said.
Fans of statistics will want to know that Ollie Bearman becomes the 97th driver to race in F1 for Ferrari. He will be using the number 38.
Ollie is also the first driver to make his F1 race debut with Ferrari since Arturo Merzario in 1972.
At 18 years and 306 days, he's also the youngest ever British F1 driver, and the youngest driver to race for Ferrari.
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