FP3 at Jeddah, Ollie Bearman made headlines as he stepped in for Carlos Sainz, marking a historic Ferrari debut and showcasing promising pace.
The FP3 session for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix took place in Jeddah, drawing considerable attention to Ferrari’s garage early this afternoon. Ollie Bearman was urgently called to replace Carlos Sainz, who suffered an appendicitis attack.
Bearman became the first driver to debut in F1 with Ferrari since Arturo Merzario in 1972. At 18 years and 306 days old, he is also the youngest to race for Ferrari, and the third youngest in F1 after Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll. He was born in 2005, the year Fernando Alonso won his first world title!
Bearman was among the first to hit the track to get acquainted with his car, but it was Valtteri Bottas who set the benchmark time on medium tires, clocking in at 1’31″039. Lewis Hamilton surpassed him on soft tires with a time of 1’30″793.
Bearman quickly improved, closing to within four-tenths of Hamilton, still on medium tires, as Fernando Alonso entered the track. The other 16 drivers remained in the garage.
Bottas reclaimed the top spot with a time of 1’30″770, before Bearman took the lead with a lap of 1’30″277. While these times were still off from the previous day’s, they were promising for Bearman.
George Russell, on soft tires, fell short by 0″053 of Bearman’s time, while Hamilton improved to 1’30″253. Russell then bettered his time to 1’29″862, and Charles Leclerc moved into second on medium tires.
Sergio Pérez then took the lead with a time of 1’29″562 on soft tires. Max Verstappen, also on softs, came in second. But Charles Leclerc made further progress on medium tires, setting the fastest time at 1’29″206.
Verstappen later topped the timesheet on soft tires with a lap of 1’28″893. The Haas F1 drivers, on soft tires, were sixth and seventh, before being split by Oscar Piastri on mediums. Kevin Magnussen then improved, placing his VF-24 third.
Logan Sargeant was stuck in the garage after hitting a wall, likely damaging the suspension or wheel hub. On track, Pérez did not improve, unlike Lando Norris, who was on the upswing on soft tires before aborting his fast lap in the final corner.
Verstappen improved his time to 1’28″412 while on track, Lance Stroll and Pierre Gasly hindered each other. Stroll reported over the radio not having received the message. Verstappen later complained of hitting an object, “maybe a water bottle,” with his right front wheel.
A red flag was waved with 17 minutes left in the session following a violent crash by Guanyu Zhou. Fortunately, it was quickly confirmed that the Chinese driver was unharmed. However, his Kick Sauber C44 suffered significant damage upon contact with the TecPro barriers.
The session resumed with five minutes remaining. Drivers returned to the track for one final run, with many lining up at the end of the pit lane as the lights turned green.
Leclerc improved on soft tires, moving up to second place, and Bearman had a chance to test the soft tires. Despite a minor error, the British driver wasn’t in a bad position time-wise and climbed to seventh.
Piastri moved up to sixth on soft tires, and Norris secured the fourth-fastest time. Pérez improved to third, and Verstappen bettered his first sector and his own time in the second sector, ultimately missing his best time by just ten milliseconds.
He maintained the fastest time of the session ahead of Leclerc, who was less than two-tenths behind, and Pérez, nearly half a second off. Russell was fourth, followed by Norris, Alonso, Stroll, then Piastri, Hamilton, and Bearman, rounding out the top 10 within less than seven-tenths of Leclerc. The Alpine drivers were 12th and 14th, while Zhou was second last, ahead of Sargeant, who couldn’t set a time.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Honda RBPT RB20 | 1:28.412 | 13 |
| 02 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari SF-24 | 1:28.608 | 16 |
| 03 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull Honda RBPT RB20 | 1:28.906 | 13 |
| 04 | George Russell | Mercedes W15 | 1:28.964 | 17 |
| 05 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes MCL38 | 1:28.971 | 11 |
| 06 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Mercedes AMR24 | 1:29.038 | 14 |
| 07 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Mercedes AMR24 | 1:29.127 | 14 |
| 08 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes MCL38 | 1:29.213 | 11 |
| 09 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes W15 | 1:29.268 | 19 |
| 10 | Oliver Bearman | Ferrari SF-24 | 1:29.306 | 22 |
| 11 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari VF-24 | 1:29.485 | 12 |
| 12 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault A524 | 1:29.546 | 13 |
| 13 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda RBPT VCARB 01 | 1:29.572 | 18 |
| 14 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault A524 | 1:29.575 | 13 |
| 15 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas Ferrari VF-24 | 1:29.675 | 11 |
| 16 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB Honda RBPT VCARB 01 | 1:29.740 | 15 |
| 17 | Alex Albon | Williams Mercedes FW46 | 1:29.808 | 13 |
| 18 | Valtteri Bottas | Stake F1 Kick Sauber C44 | 1:30.083 | 21 |
| 19 | Guanyu Zhou | Stake F1 Kick Sauber C44 | 1:30.739 | 12 |
| 20 | Logan Sargeant | Williams Mercedes FW46 | – :—.— | 2 |
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Bearman Ferrari FP3 Debut. Bearman Ferrari FP3 Debut
