Lewis Hamilton lauded “phenomenal” Ollie Bearman as a “future star” after the British teenager completed a dream 24 hours by securing points on his Formula One debut for Ferrari.
Bearman was drafted in as a last-minute replacement for appendicitis-hit Carlos Sainz and after qualifying 11th, made up four places in Saturday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix to finish seventh – remarkably two positions ahead of Mercedes’ seven-time world champion Hamilton.
Hamilton applauded Bearman as he drove past him following the chequered flag and then waited by his Ferrari to embrace the 18-year-old.
Hamilton, 21 years older than his countryman, said: “To be pulled out of your class and put straight into a Ferrari, and then to go straight into practice, he did such a phenomenal job and it has just showed he is a really bright future star.”
Bearman had been due to compete in F1’s feeder series, Formula Two, in Jeddah before Ferrari told him only a handful of hours before final practice on Friday, that he would be replacing Sainz – becoming the youngest British F1 driver in the process.
Following surgery, Sainz was back in the paddock for Saturday’s race. Despite walking gingerly, Ferrari expect the 29-year-old Spaniard, who will next year make way for Hamilton at the scarlet team, to be back in his cockpit for the Australian Grand Prix in a fortnight’s time.
Bearman was thrust into the spotlight after just two practice run-outs for Ferrari’s B team Haas last season – but his showing under the lights may have helped fast-track his progression to the big time.
Although a full-time seat at Ferrari is not on the cards for 2025, both Haas drivers’ Kevin Magnussen, 31, and Nico Hulkenberg, 36, are out of contract at the end of the season.
And George Russell, who finished one place ahead of Bearman, said: “I fully expect to see him on the grid next year, or the one after.
“He did an amazing job, coming in at a circuit like this which is extremely difficult. He exceeded everybody’s expectations and he caught a lot of people by surprise. He clearly had confidence from the off to push the car to the limit.”
Away from Bearman’s impressive debut – which saw him win the fan-voted driver of the day award – Mercedes endured another disappointing evening. Russell and Hamilton crossed the line 40 and 47 seconds respectively behind Max Verstappen, who stormed to his second win of the season and ninth in a row stretching back to last year.
“There is something we need to spot and unlock and it is not by a lack of trying,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.
“We push so hard and we are going to give it a massive go in the next week to come back to Melbourne stronger. I am 100 per cent sure we are going to unlock that performance gap.
“I have changed my mindset, and I don’t think additional pressure on us makes it better. I can see the buzz in the organisation. You feel down but we are trying to turn that into motivation. That is why we believe we can turn it around, and I am 100 per cent sure we can.”
Norris 'not comfortable' despite setting pace in Belgium practice
Lando Norris admitted he was "not comfortable" despite being fastest in the Belgian Grand Prix second practice.
McLaren finished first and second on Friday, with Norris finishing just 0.215 seconds ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri.
Max Verstappen finished third, but despite an impressive performance, his 10-place grid penalty will affect his result.
Norris finished second in the Hungarian Grand Prix last week, behind Piastri, in a race overshadowed by a radio spat between the Brit and the pit wall.
Having put that behind him, even after a confident practice session on Friday, Norris is not willing to rest on his laurels with Red Bull showing their threat.
"Red Bull are very quick at the minute," Norris said. "So, tricky, but I've just not felt very comfortable today with the car.
"So hopefully I just wake up [on Saturday] and feel a bit more comfortable with it. But we'll try and improve a few things and see again.
"I know it looked good on the timesheets, but I've not felt super comfortable in just going out and doing it. So, hopefully, I can just get in a bit more of a rhythm and feel a bit better out there."
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton finished in 10th after struggling to match the pace set in the second session.
Mercedes have been credited for their improvement in recent weeks, with Hamilton winning at Silverstone before finishing third at Hungaroring last Sunday.
However, he was also left disappointed on Friday and said he was hoping for the forecast rain over the rest of the weekend to give the team more of an edge.
"It was a pretty bad day," Hamilton said.
"I don't really know what to say! Obviously, it's been feeling great in the past couple of races, but it just felt completely different today.
"We worked on it. The first session was not great, but then in the second session we made some changes, and it started off great, and then when I got to the soft tyre I just couldn't improve and there were a bunch of balance issues we had through the lap.
"It was better through this session, but everyone else went even better. So, to be 1.2s behind is not great.
"If it rains, then that opens it up a little bit and, hopefully, we can do a better job. I think the car should be better in the wet than it is in the dry."
Perez '100% certain' of Red Bull stay after Belgian Grand Prix
Sergio Perez is confident he will still be at Red Bull after this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix regardless of the result.
There has been a lot of speculation over the Mexican's future in recent weeks following a series of poor results at recent races, despite him signing a two-year extension with the team just last month.
Since coming fourth at the Miami Grand Prix in May, Perez's best finish has been seventh, both in Austria and Hungary, and he failed to advance beyond Q1 in four of the last six races.
His drop in form has allowed McLaren to close the gap to Red Bull in the constructors' championship to just 51 points.
With the four-week break soon approaching, both RB driver Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull's reserve driver Liam Lawson have been linked with Perez's seat.
However, the 34-year-old is certain he will still be competing alongside Max Verstappen when the season resumes.
"I am 100% sure," Perez said.
"Because I know basically what's in my contract and I know what the team trusts in me. And I know where is the main focus, which is on delivering on the track.
"It's no different to what it was in Hungary or [at the first race] in Bahrain or how it will be in Zandvoort or the rest of the year," Perez said.
"Every single weekend we've got to deliver the maximum, especially now that, with McLaren catching up in the constructors, it's really important to put everything together if we can achieve it.
"I'm not worried about it. Like I said, I know where I stand. That's not my concern. My only concern I have is to get my season back on track. The rest, I'm pretty chilled about."
McLaren to discuss whether to prioritise Norris over Piastri, says Brown
McLaren chief executive Zak Brown has said meetings will take place to discuss whether to prioritise Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri for the remainder of the season.
The issue arose following last week's Hungarian Grand Prix, which saw Piastri's maiden win in Formula One overshadowed by Norris' radio spat with the pit wall.
Piastri had led much of the race before a bizarre pit-stop call by McLaren allowed Norris to take the lead, but was ordered to give the lead back to his team-mate.
Norris initially refused to do so, but with three laps remaining, handed the place back to the Australian as McLaren secured a first one-two since Monza in 2021.
Piastri's win at the Hungaroring made him the seventh different winner in 2024. It is the 16th different year with at least seven winners, the first since 2012 (eight).
But one of Norris' protestations before giving the position back was his battle with Max Verstappen in the Driver's Championship.
Despite scoring his eighth podium of the season in Hungary, the Brit remains 76 points behind the three-time world champion.
Brown, who wasn't on the pit wall in Hungary but is back for this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, said the decision would ultimately fall to team principal Andrea Stella.
He told Sky Sports F1: "That's ultimately going to be Andrea's call. We want to get through the first half of the season, see where we end up this weekend.
"I think the Constructors' Championship, while it's definitely not going to be easy, is well within reach.
"I think the challenge on the drivers' front is Max's bad days are second and third places, so (it's difficult) to make those claw backs that we're making on the constructors' that we can do because (Sergio) Perez is struggling at the moment, we also know he's capable of turning it on at any moment.
"That will be something I think we discuss over the summer break."
McLaren's recent pace and form has seen them have a driver on the podium in the last nine races, cutting the gap to Red Bull in the Constructor's Championship.
The British team have another excellent opportunity to cut the gap in Spa, with Norris' championship rival Verstappen receiving a 10-place grid penalty for Sunday's race by exceeding his engine allowance for the season.
But the Dutchman topped the first practice on Friday, with Piastri finishing 0.531 seconds behind with Norris down in ninth, 0.512secs off his McLaren team-mate.
And Verstappen's showing has left Brown refusing to rule out the possibility of the three-time world champion claiming an eighth win of the season.
"It's a tricky track with how much downforce you want versus speed," Brown said.
"You have to assume Max is on for pole, which is P11.
"It would be a big mistake to think he can't go from P11 to P1 but we have to take every advantage you can."
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