Ferrari’s Sainz to miss Saudi Arabian GP with appendicitis

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz will miss the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after being diagnosed with appendicitis following practice on Thursday.

He will be replaced by Ferrari reserve driver Oliver Bearman, 18, who was due to compete in Formula 2 this weekend in Saudi Arabia.

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Sainz missed Wednesday’s media day in Jeddah after feeling unwell and, prior to his diagnosis, completed a limited amount of training on Thursday with the intention of saving his strength for qualifying on Friday and the race on Saturday.

However, ahead of Friday’s final practice session, Ferrari revealed that Sainz had been diagnosed with appendicitis, requiring surgery that would rule him out for this weekend’s event.

Bearman, who will make his F1 debut in place of Sainz, was named Ferrari’s reserve driver in January this year.

The British driver joined Ferrari’s driver academy in 2021 and took part in his first F1 practice sessions with the Haas F1 team in Mexico and Abu Dhabi last year. On January 31 of this year he participated in a Ferrari test with a two-year-old car in Spain.

On Thursday, Bearman qualified on pole position for this weekend’s F2 feature race, but will now sit out the rest of the F2 weekend so he can concentrate fully on F1.

He will become the first driver to debut in F1 with Ferrari since Arturo Merzario did so with the Italian team at the 1972 British Grand Prix.

The 18-year-old is Ferrari’s 97th driver in Formula One and the first to debut with the sport’s oldest, most successful and glamorous team since Italy’s Arturo Merzario in 1972 at the British Grand Prix.

Bearman took to the track on Friday for final practice with the number 38 on his car, a number that has appeared 12 times in the past on a Ferrari and whose previous wearers include the first British champion Mike Hawthorn.

Hawthorn won his title with Ferrari in 1958.

“Carlos has already come out of surgery. Everything went well and he is now resting in the hospital. We send him all our support for a speedy recovery.” Ferrari said in a statement on Friday..

Reuters reporting contributed to this report.