Due to an appendicitis diagnosis that would necessitate surgery, Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz will not compete in this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the Italian Formula One team announced on Friday.
After finishing third in Bahrain’s season opening behind Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, Sainz, who will be leaving Ferrari at the end of the current season to be replaced by Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton the next year, finished third in Bahrain.
At the Singapore Grand Prix the previous year, Sainz was also the final driver to defeat the Red Bull vehicles and win the race.
Ferrari released a statement saying, “Oliver Bearman will be his reserve driver starting in FP3 and for the remainder of this weekend.”
Bearman, the reserve driver, attended the Ferrari Driver Academy before joining Prema Racing as a Formula Two racer. The 18-year-old British driver placed sixth in the previous season’s Formula Two drivers’ championship.
Ferrari continued, “Oliver will therefore not be participating in this round of the F2 Championship.”
In Thursday’s qualifying, Bearman had secured pole position for the Formula Two main event.
Bearman declared, “It’s one of my favorite tracks,” following his fourth career Formula Two pole.
Despite feeling under the weather, Sainz participated in the FP1 and FP2 sessions on Thursday.
After a challenging day at Jeddah’s Corniche circuit, where he was only seventh fastest in FP2, the Spaniard subsequently posted on Instagram that he was “still feeling far from OK.”
Ferrari did not specify his expected return date. In two weeks, the Australian Grand Prix is scheduled to take place.
Prior to the 2022 Italian Grand Prix, Alex Albon also suffered from appendicitis. Nyck de Vries replaced him in the Williams vehicle, but the Thai driver was back for the Singapore Grand Prix.
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