F1 Saudi Arabia GP 2024 LIVE: Race results, updates and times as Ollie Bearman scores points on debut
Follow all the latest updates from the race in Jeddah as Bearman scores points on a terrific F1 debut
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Your support makes all the difference.Max Verstappen romped to another commanding win at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, as rookie British teenager Ollie Bearman completed a dream debut by beating Lewis Hamilton to finish a brilliant seventh.
Despite threatening to quit Red Bull just 24 hours previously, following another twist in the ongoing Red Bull saga, Verstappen followed his win at the season-opening round in Bahrain last Saturday with another comfortable triumph in his all-conquering machine – remarkably his 19th in 20 appearances.
Sergio Perez completed a one-two finish for Red Bull, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc third. But for Bearman, just three months old when Hamilton made his debut in 2007, this will be a night he will never forget.
Handed his shock debut as an 11th-hour stand-in for Carlos Sainz, the boy from Chelmsford, 18 years, 10 months and one day, drove into the record books as the youngest British driver to start a Formula One race.
Follow all the latest updates at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Who is Ollie Bearman? Essex boy with Italian twang driving for Ferrari at Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
History-making Ollie Bearman will drive for Ferrari at this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after replacing Carlos Sainz for the Scuderia.
Sainz, who finished third at last weekend’s season-opening race in Bahrain, has been diagnosed with appendicitis and will undergo surgery.
The 18-year-old Bearman made his Formula One debut last season, becoming the youngest British driver to step foot in an F1 machine at a Grand Prix weekend. And he quietly impressed, too.
Bearman was barely three months old when Fernando Alonso won his first world championship in 2005 – but on his Formula One debut in Mexico City, the Essex 18-year-old finished ahead of the double world champion.
Who is Ollie Bearman? Essex boy with Italian twang driving for Ferrari
Bearman will step in for Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this weekend, having made F1 history last season
A big day for this man
Ollie Bearman will have been dreaming about this for some time.
Driver Standings after one race
1. Max Verstappen - 26 points
2. Sergio Perez - 18 points
3. Carlos Sainz - 15 points
4. Charles Leclerc - 12 points
5. George Russell - 10 points
6. Lando Norris - 8 points
7. Lewis Hamilton - 6 points
8. Oscar Piastri - 4 points
9. Fernando Alonso - 2 points
10. Lance Stroll - 1 point
11. Zhou Guanyu - 0 points
12. Kevin Magnussen - 0 points
13. Daniel Ricciardo - 0 points
14. Yuki Tsunoda - 0 points
15. Alex Albon - 0 points
16. Nico Hulkenberg - 0 points
17. Esteban Ocon - 0 points
18. Pierre Gasly - 0 points
19. Valtteri Bottas - 0 points
20. Logan Sargeant - 0 points
COMMENT: On International Women’s Day, Red Bull’s suspension of Christian Horner’s accuser is truly shocking
Another day in Formula 1’s never-ending soap opera – and another day further away from a conclusion to a story which threatens to rip Red Bull, and the sport, apart.
To recap the latest developments, early on Thursday it emerged that the female colleague, who raised allegations of “inappropriate, coercive behaviour” against Red Bull F1 boss Christian Horner which were cleared by an internal probe, had been suspended on full pay by Red Bull Racing.
While we don’t yet know the grounds for her suspension and whether it could be lifted, the optics of this situation, now, are beyond unpalatable. It is shocking that Formula 1 – a sport that has prided itself on making such strides on inclusivity and diversity in recent years – has allowed the matter to stretch to this point. The message it sends, on the eve of the all-female racing series F1 Academy starting its second season on International Women’s Day, is truly terrible.
Full piece below:
Red Bull’s suspension of Christian Horner’s accuser is truly shocking on IWD
Comment: The whole soap opera involving Red Bull boss Horner has now become perilous for F1
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: Practice and qualifying start time
What is the race schedule?
(All times GMT)
Friday 8 March
- Free practice 3: 1:30pm
- Qualifying: 5pm
Saturday 9 March
- Race: 5pm
Some big news in Saudi this morning:
Carlos Sainz has been ruled out of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after being diagnosed with appendicitis.
British teenager Ollie Bearman will replace the Spanish driver in Jeddah and thus make his F1 race debut in Saturday’s race. He will become the youngest Briton to take part in a Formula 1 grand prix.
The 18-year-old, from Chelmsford in Essex, had on Thursday secured pole position for the F2 feature race but will now make the step up, starting with third practice on Friday lunchtime.
A Ferrari statement read: “Carlos Sainz has been diagnosed with appendicitis and will require surgery.
“As from FP3 and for the rest of this weekend, he will be replaced by reserve driver Oliver Bearman. Oliver will therefore take no further part in this round of the F2 Championship.
Full piece below:
Sainz ruled out of Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with Bearman stepping in at Ferrari
The Spanish driver – who leaves Ferrari at the end of the season – will not take part in qualifying or the race
F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying
Formula 1 returned last weekend with the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix after a drama-filled off-season which saw Lewis Hamilton announce his departure from Mercedes and the scandal surrounding Red Bull team principal Christian Horner continue into overdrive.
As the Horner controversy rumbles on, F1 switched attention back to the track as Max Verstappen cruises to a first grand prix victory of the season in Bahrain.
The season-opener in Bahrain proved that Red Bull will once again be the team to beat with Verstappen targeting a fourth-straight drivers’ championship. Their closest rivals seem to be Ferrari, who Hamilton is joining for 2025, after Carlos Sainz sealed third place behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. Sainz is ill, however, and has been replaced by British 18-year-old Ollie Bearman on Friday.
Mercedes and McLaren were the next best of the rest, sealing positions fifth to eighth, while Aston Martin secured ninth and tenth for three championship points in a race where all 20 drivers finished. Will it happen twice in a row, though, ahead of this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah?
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