BEARMAN Oliver, pilot of Scuderia Ferrari SF-24, portrayed during the 2024 Saudi Arabian Formula 1 Grand Prix, second stage of the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship, from March 7 to 9, 2024, at the Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – Photo by Antonin Vincent / DPPI
In the latest qualifying session, the Scuderia Ferrari driver secured his seventh consecutive start on the front row, but once again found himself in the shadow of Max Verstappen and Red Bull. Leclerc’s lap time ended up being over three tenths slower than the current world champion’s.
The Italian team entered the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship with a clear goal of competing for the title. Team principal Frédéric Vasseur emphasized that they are focused on the current season, despite signing Hamilton for the Maranello-based team in 2025.
Leclerc’s regular teammate, Carlos Sainz Jr., had a good start to the year with a podium at the Bahrain Grand Prix, which opened the season. However, the Spaniard fell ill the following week and had to undergo surgery to remove an inflamed appendix before FP3 on Friday.
Due to his precarious condition, Sainz was unable to participate in the race and was replaced by Oliver Bearman, an 18-year-old driver from the Ferrari Academy and Formula 2. Although Bearman adapted well to the SF-24, he ended up struggling to keep up with the pace and qualified in P11.
Leclerc was not entirely satisfied with his fastest lap during qualifying and believed there was more potential to close the significant gap to Verstappen. He expressed his desire to work to understand the issues he faced during the sessions in order to extract the full potential of the car in the future.
Despite his disappointment, Leclerc had positive words for his substitute teammate, Bearman, who performed admirably considering his lack of experience in Formula 1. Leclerc wished a speedy recovery to Sainz and congratulated Bearman on his impressive debut in Formula 1 qualifying. He believed that together they could achieve a good amount of points.
Bearman, on the other hand, was somewhat critical of his performance as he expected to finish in the top ten but fell slightly short. Nevertheless, he saw it as a valuable opportunity and expressed his readiness to make the most of it in the race. He acknowledged the challenges of the difficult track and tempered his expectations, aiming to bring the car to the finish line and potentially score some points.
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will start at 17:00 GMT (20:00 local time) on Saturday, March 9th. Will Leclerc be able to challenge Verstappen for the win? And will Bearman be able to climb up the standings and secure points in his Formula 1 debut?
