Ferrari reserve driver Oliver Bearman will make his Formula 1 debut at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Saturday night after Ferrari racer Carlos Sainz was ruled out through illness.
Sainz, who finished on the podium in Bahrain last Saturday, missed media activities at Jeddah through illness and was unwell throughout Thursday’s practice sessions. On Friday, Ferrari confirmed that Sainz has been suffering from appendicitis and will require surgery.
As a consequence he has been ruled out of action for at least this weekend’s race.
Bearman has been drafted in to make his Formula 1 debut in place of Sainz. The 18-year-old Briton is racing in Formula 2 this season and had claimed pole position around the streets of Jeddah in the secondary category.
Ferrari reserve Bearman had already been pencilled in for six FP1 sessions with Haas in 2024, having competed in two practice sessions for the team last year. He has been part of Ferrari’s Driver Academy since 2022 and last year finished sixth in Formula 2 with four victories.
Bearman will use No. 38 and become the first Briton to race for Ferrari since Nigel Mansell in 1990.
U.K.-based Phillip Horton started covering Grands Prix while still at university and swiftly deemed that writing about Formula 1 and the behind-the-scenes machinations was much more engaging than reading centuries-old novels. Degree gained, he went on to cover the sport full-time from 2014 and is as intrigued and excited by the destinations Formula 1 visits during its lengthy annual world tour as the racing itself. Phillip joined Autoweek in 2021 and while he has just about learned to spell in American English he has yet to find anywhere in America that makes a proper cup of tea.
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