Carlos Sainz will miss this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after being diagnosed with appendicitis following Thursday’s practice sessions, Ferrari has confirmed. The Italian team has drafted in 18-year-old reserve driver Oliver Bearman to replace Sainz for the remainder of the race weekend in Jeddah.

Sainz had been feeling unwell on Wednesday’s media day and only completed a limited amount of running in practice on Thursday as he tried to recover ahead of qualifying and the race. However, further medical evaluation revealed Sainz was suffering from appendicitis which will require surgery, ruling him out of competing in Saudi Arabia.

Bearman, who was originally set to race in Formula 2 this weekend, will now make his Formula 1 debut in place of the sidelined Sainz. The young British driver joined Ferrari’s driver academy in 2021 and served as the team’s reserve this year after gaining F1 practice experience with Haas in 2022.

“Carlos Sainz has been diagnosed with appendicitis and will require surgery,” Ferrari stated. “As from FP3 and for the rest of this weekend, he will be replaced by reserve driver Oliver Bearman. Oliver will therefore take no part in this round of the F2 Championship. The Ferrari family wishes Carlos a speedy recovery.”

Bearman had been due to start the F2 feature race in Saudi Arabia from pole position, but those commitments have been put aside to allow him to focus entirely on his unexpected F1 debut alongside Charles Leclerc.

For Sainz, it is an unfortunate setback in the early stages of the 2024 F1 season after a solid start saw him finish fourth in the Bahrain Grand Prix season opener. However, his priority will be recovering from surgery before targeting a return to the Ferrari cockpit as soon as possible.