Lewis Hamilton heaped praise on Oliver Bearman’s performance in his short-notice debut for Ferrari at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit today.
Bearman qualified 11th on the grid for tomorrow’s race after being called up to replace Carlos Sainz Jnr less than three hours before final practice began.
Ferrari’s substitute came within three hundredths of a second of reaching Q3. The final driver to make the cut was Hamilton, who will move to Ferrari next year.
“I didn’t see his qualifying but I think he did an amazing job in practice,” Hamilton told the official F1 channel. Bearman ended his first session in a Ferrari within 0.7 seconds of team mate Charles Leclerc.
“To jump into a car in P3 and deliver the way he has is really, really impressive,” Hamilton continued. “Really happy for him to have the opportunity.
“It also highlights the car is pretty good – one of the drivers is in number two [on the grid]. But a great, great effort for today and I’m sure tomorrow he’ll have a great time.”
Bearman’s debut came about after Sainz was taken to hospital with appendicitis. He has undergone surgery and the team say he is recovering.
Hamilton’s team mate George Russell was also impressed by Bearman, who appeared in two practice sessions for Haas last year.
“First, we wish Carlos well and hope he’s doing okay,” said Russell. “But I’m really impressed by Ollie.
“I watched him in Formula 2, I remember watching his laps in Mexico last year in Haas, I thought he was driving really well.
“He definitely exceeded my expectations because being thrown in, in FP3, is a challenge at the best of times, let alone on a circuit like this. So well done to him.”
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