Mid-way during the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP weekend, Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz was diagnosed with appendicitis. He was quickly rushed in for surgery and the #55 driver has now been recuperating since the last 12 days. According to reports, the Spanish racing ace is scheduled to make a comeback and compete during the 2024 Australian GP. However, revered F1 photojournalist, Kym Illman isn’t 100% sure that Sainz is ready to race again.
Illman took to his Instagram account to share pictures of the Ferrari driver in the Australian GP paddock from earlier today. He wrote, “After getting off his bike, it looked to me like he was not moving freely. I spoke to him for a couple of minutes and I’m not 100% sure his body is ready for the rigours of an F1 race.”
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Sainz went through with his surgery on qualifying day at the Saudi Arabian GP. However, he was back in the paddock the very next day – albeit looking physically unable to compete in the race and he was replaced by F1 rookie and F2 polesitter, Oliver Bearman.
With only 22 races now left on his Ferrari contract, the Spaniard would be eager to get back into the SF-24, to impress their rivals for a possible seat in 2025. Albert Park can be a great circuit for him to get back into the swing of things, and Ferrari look like a team that can challenge Red Bull this weekend. It is being suggested that he will jump in for FP1 and the team will take a call after the session.
Is Oliver Bearman going to replace Carlos Sainz for the 2024 Australian GP?
Bearman filled in for Sainz during the last Grand Prix weekend. The 18-year-old Briton became Ferrari’s youngest debutant as he participated in the weekend from FP3 onwards. With only an hour of “practice” under his belt, the #38 driver went on to impress the entire paddock with his stellar performance.
Bearman almost made it into Q3 on his very first attempt but missed out on knocking Lewis Hamilton out by the slimmest of margins. Starting the race from P11, he went on to pull some sublime moves as he eventually bagged his first F1 points on debut with a solid P7 finish.
| Nico Hulkenberg is understood to be a priority target for Audi. This move could free a Haas seat for Bearman. However, Zhou and Bottas are still being evaluated. pic.twitter.com/j8z2rH5HrT
— Jan Mazurek (@_JanMazurek) March 20, 2024
His performances have quickly made him a household name. The Briton is sure to feature more prominently in F1 this year with a few FP1 sessions with Haas. What’s more, after impressing team principal Ayao Komatsu, Bearman is tipped to be in prime position to bag a race seat with Haas in 2025.
