Vasseur gives update on Sainz and praises Bearman

Carlos Sainz is missing the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix scheduled for Saturday night. The Spaniard has appendicitis, and required surgery. His replacement, Oliver Bearman, impressed in qualifying by getting the 11th fastest time. Team boss Frederic Vasseur spoke to Sky Sports about Sainz and Bearman.

Vasseur gives update on Sainz

Vasseur starts with an update on Sainz: "He’s okay. Not this weekend for sure, but I hope that he will be back soon. It's a tough moment, but everything is going in the right direction now, and you have to think about the future. At the beginning, we were thinking about a food issue, and this morning it was even worse. He went to the hospital."

In 2022, Nyck de Vries replaced Alexander Albon at Monza for the same reason. The Dutchman then scored immediate points on his debut, after which he earned a seat at AlphaTauri.

Vasseur praising Bearman

De Vries was then also told before the third free practice session. This was also the case with Bearman. "At 1.30 or 2 in the afternoon. It's better like this, you don't have too much time to think about it."

It is not the first time Bearman has stepped into the Ferrari: "He drove the old car a couple of months ago, and he did very well. Last year, he did two FP1s with us. He did a good job on these two, and for sure it's a different story. When you have to jump into the car in Jeddah FP3, it's not an easy one. On the other hand, he did F2 yesterday, and he did very well, because he got the pole position. I think that also, somehow, good preparation."