Which Ferrari reserve driver could replace Sainz in Australia?

Ferrari's team has three reserve drivers who rotate together in a schedule. This determines who should be present at which F1 race. Exactly how this schedule is arranged varies from race to race. Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur explains who is on the schedule for Australia.

Because Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz had to undergo surgery on his appendix, Oliver Bearman suddenly got the chance for his Formula 1 debut. During his first race, the young Briton managed to score points by finishing in seventh place. A day after his surgery, the Spaniard was already back in the paddock, but will Sainz recover in time to compete in the Australian Grand Prix? ''This I don't know honestly. The recovery so far is amazing that the fact that he was able to come today to be with the team, and so was a very good sign, and a very good support for us. Now we will fly back, we meet tomorrow that and will have a one week of complete rest and we'll take a decision on when he has to fly to Melbourne in one week time. But I'm quite optimistic,'' Vasseur said after the race in Jeddah.

Bearman scheduled for Australia

Should Carlos Sainz not be fully recovered for Australia, Ferrari has three reserve drivers it can choose from to replace him. Antonio Giovinazzi, Robert Schwarzman and, of course, Oliver Bearman are candidates for Australia. Vasseur explained that the schedule of when which driver should fill in is logically constructed. ''No, I took the decision in the winter because I found a bit stupid last year to ask to Antonio to do 22 or 24 races, when he was doing in parallel the LMH program (WEC). The LMH is quite important for us. It's a huge challenge and I don't want to ask to Oli or to even to Schwarzman to travel with us and to do one week in Brazil, the week after in Qatar and race in between. It's why we decided that when Oli is with us, that he will be the reserve. And when he's not with us, he will be the sim.'' Formula 2, like Formula 1, races in Australia on the weekend of 24 March. So Oliver Bearman will also be the reserve driver present there for Ferrari. Whether the 18-year-old may actually get behind the wheel will depend on Sainz's recovery.