Ollie Bearman’s performance as a last-minute Saudi Arabian Grand Prix call-up for Carlos Sainz at Ferrari impressed his teammate Charles Leclerc and also drew praise from the Red Bull drivers.
Sainz was diagnosed with appendicitis after feeling unwell arriving in Jeddah, and had to undergo surgery on Friday morning when his condition worsened following Thursday practice. Ferrari reserve driver Bearman received confirmation he would be replacing Sainz just a few hours before FP3, and the 18-year-old missed out on a spot in Q3 by just 0.036s as he qualified 11th.
“It’s definitely one of the most difficult tracks on the calendar for sure, being a street track and being so fast as well,” Leclerc said. “But he handled it perfectly.
“As soon as he got in with the engineers this morning he had so much to understand in order for him to be ready that we didn’t have much time to speak. The only thing I said to him when he came this morning was like, ‘Are you excited?’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, I cannot wait!’ which I expected this answer. It was good to see the excitement for him, for his first race in Ferrari, and again he’s done a great job.”
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Polesitter Max Verstappen was similarly impressed, saying he was paying attention to Bearman’s first laps in the Ferrari during final practice.
“It’s super-hard to jump in on a track like this,” Verstappen said. “I think what he has done has been very, very impressive. I was watching his first few laps in FP3 because that’s when you can judge if someone is comfortable or not in a car, and by lap two, lap three I was like, ‘OK, that’s a strong start, I like to see that!’
“Yeah, to be P11, I think at the time only six tenths off pole, that is more than I think you could have asked from him. So for sure, yeah he’s done an incredible job, and I hope that he also enjoyed it a little bit out there, because it’s quite stressful when you come into a new team, basically, a new car, and without any experience, and this track.
“Hopefully he is happy with himself also — not that he says, ‘Ah, I didn’t make it to Q3′ or whatever, because I think everyone within the paddock has seen that he did a great job.”
Sergio Perez, who qualified third, agreed Jeddah is one of the tracks that would provide the biggest challenge to a rookie driver, as Bearman had to withdraw from the Formula 2 weekend having qualified on pole position in that category.
“I think it was very impressive,” Perez said. “I think it’s a place where you don’t want to get the call to do your debut, because it’s one of the most challenging places — the one where you have to take the most risk, where you have to be the most confident with the car, with the balance — so big respect for what he has achieved today. I think he has done a really strong job.
“It just shows how well prepared he is for the opportunity, so well done to him.”