08 March 2024 , 22:49
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Three-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen has heaped praise on 18-year-old Oliver Bearman after he stepped in at short notice to replace Ferrari's Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Sainz has undergone surgery for appendicitis and Bearman is deputising for the Spaniard while he recovers. The teenager impressed in qualifying on Friday, narrowly missing out on Q3 after coming within three hundredths of a second of knocking out Lewis Hamilton.
Bearman was incredibly disappointed at falling just short and apologised to his team over the radio in the immediate aftermath. "That was a messy session. Sorry about that," he said.
However, it was an excellent performance from the debutant which earned him plenty of praise from Verstappen. "What Ollie has done has been very, very impressive," Verstappen said, having qualified in pole position.
"I watched his first few laps in practice, because that is where you can judge if someone is comfortable in the car, and by lap two or three I thought 'that is a strong start', and to be 11th, and only six tenths off pole at the time, is more than you could have asked for.
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"He has done an incredible job." Reflecting on his performance in qualifying, Berman admitted he was "a bit disappointed" but said he expects to feel "quite proud of what I've managed to do" in a few days time.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, he said: "I woke up preparing and mentally thinking about my F2 race then I got chucked in the deep end for F1 FP3 and qualifying. Of course not the ideal situation and I feel sorry for Carlos and wish him the best but it's a fantastic opportunity.
Max Verstappen hailed Berman's performance as "incredible" (Clive Rose/Getty Images)"A bit disappointed with everything but it was a fun day out there. At the moment not so proud, the racer in me knows that the car was quick enough to be in Q3, so a little bit disappointed with that.
"But I know that when I look back in a couple of days I'll be quite proud of what I've managed to do today. The goal was to do as many laps as possible. Especially at night, I missed FP2 which is not ideal.
"That was the goal. The soft tyre lasts quite well, it's quite durable, so just tried to get as many laps in Q1. Q2 was a bit more messy, a few mistakes on my side, so that's where I'm disappointed."
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