The Spanish
Carlos Sainz
will not be able to participate this weekend in the
Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
, which will be held on the
Jeddah
street circuit , because he suffers
from appendicitis
, so he will have to undergo surgery.
His place, starting with the third free practice session on Friday, will be taken by the young British
Oliver Bearman
, reserve driver and member of the Italian team's academy.
The news was confirmed this Friday by
Ferrari
through a brief statement, in which it wished “a speedy recovery” to the Spaniard, who on Thursday had finished sixth in the first round of free practice and seventh in the second.
After getting out of his vehicle, Sainz had said that the day
had been “very difficult” for him
.
“I have not fully recovered from the illness that has kept me in bed for the past 24 hours
and I still feel very weak
,” detailed the 29-year-old driver, who had expressed hope that “I would be recovered for qualifying and for the road".
But finally the Spaniard, who had started the season
with a third place
in the Bahrain Grand Prix last week, will not be able to compete due to appendicitis, the same pathology that in 2022 affected the Thai
Alex Albon
and prevented him from participating in the Grand Prix. Italian Prize (he was replaced by the Dutchman Nyck de Vries).
Carlos Sainz has been diagnosed with appendicitis and will require surgery.
As from FP3 and for the rest of this weekend, he will be replaced by reserve driver Oliver Bearman.
Oliver will therefore take no further part in this round of the F2 Championship.
The Ferrari family… pic.twitter.com/zePBeZlJED
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) March 8, 2024
Sainz's place will be occupied by
Bearman
, just 18 years old, who
will debut this weekend in Formula 1
and will thus become the 776th driver to compete in a test in the top category of world motorsport and the
97th to compete. He will do it aboard a Ferrari
(his red car will have the number 38 stamped on it).
The Briton has been a member of the
Ferrari Academy
since 2022 and is also participating in the Formula 2 competition representing the PREMA Racing team.
Last weekend, on the first date of the season of the Formula 1 support category, he had finished 16th in both the main event and the sprint race.
Oliver Bearman will debut this weekend in Formula 1. Photo: PREMA Racing.
“The Jeddah circuit is one of my favorites,” the young driver born in
Chelmsford
had said on Wednesday .
On Thursday, he had taken
pole position
in the category in which the Argentine
Franco Colapinto
also competes .
While he won't be able to take advantage of it, as he won't be contesting either the sprint race on Friday or the main event on Saturday, it will be for a very good reason.
Bearman began racing
karting
when he was seven years old and did so until he was 14, when he joined the ADAC Formula 4 and Italian Formula 4 championships.
In 2021 he was champion of both competitions.
In 2022 he made the jump to FIA Formula 3 with PREMA Racing and finished third in the competition after scoring eight podiums, including a victory in the sprint race in Belgium.
📻 "YEEEEEES!!!"
@insideFDA driver @OllieBearman secured his first pole position of the season in a closely fought Jeddah Qualifying session 🙌#SaudiArabianGP #F2 pic.twitter.com/sbdvZpTgsK
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) March 7, 2024
Last year was his first in Formula 2, also with PREMA Racing.
He had a perfect weekend in Baku, where he took pole position and triumphed in both races of the day.
He also took victory in the main races in Barcelona and Monza.
He totaled 130 points in the season and thus placed
sixth
in the championship.