The second race weekend of the 2024 F1 season in Saudi Arabia has had no shortage of drama.
The biggest story dropped Friday morning, when it was announced Carlos Sainz would miss both qualifying and the grand prix due to appendicitis. Replacing him would be 18-year-old Oliver Bearman, who has been competing in F2 for Prema Racing.
Sainz missed the Wednesday media sessions due to what was described as an, “illness.” However, Sainz returned on Thursday for the first two practice sessions, in which he finished sixth and seventh.
Despite this return, reports say Sainz’s discomfort continued that night regardless of any treatments. Sainz underwent tests at a nearby hospital in Jeddah, where he was diagnosed with appendicitis. He was promptly taken into surgery, which was successful. Aside from missing Saturday’s race, it is unknown how long Sainz will be out.
For Bearman, he has a bit of experience in an F1 car. Bearman took part in practice sessions at Mexico and Abu Dhabi for Haas last season. Since then, he has completed several test runs with Ferrari prior to Friday’s change.
Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu crashed out in FP3, losing the rear end of the car at turn seven and sliding into the barrier. The Sauber team tried to repair the car for qualifying, but time ran out.
Qualifying was much more spread out than Bahrain, but featured the same pole sitter nonetheless. Max Verstappen took pole for Red Bull with a time of 1:27.472, a track record at the Jeddah street circuit.
Some of the notable stories from qualifying include issues for Hulkenberg. His Haas lost power before he could put a time down in Q2, and was forced out of the session.
The Mercedes pair were left frustrated by their qualifying pace. Hamilton noted his W15 had significant bouncing, a problem that has plagued the team since 2022.
“It makes it very, very, very difficult to push through that for a session,” Hamilton said. “That’s why we were so slow in the first sector.”
With qualifying complete, the field is set for Saturday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Image courtesy of formula1.com
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