Charles Leclerc believes it’s a “matter of time” until Oliver Bearman gets a full-time drive in Formula 1 following a stellar drive to seventh on his debut in Saudi Arabia.
Bearman was called to replace the unwell Carlos Sainz ahead of the final practice session, with the Spaniard undergoing an operation after an appendicitis diagnosis.
While the Briton missed out on a place in Q3 in qualifying, he excelled in the race to rise from 11th to seventh, beating compatriots Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.
Leclerc is convinced that Bearman, who became the youngest driver to appear for Ferrari in an F1 grand prix, is destined to end up on the grid sooner rather than later.
“I mean he completely deserves it [the Driver of the Day award],” Leclerc said.
“He’s done an incredible job already from FP3 he was straight [on] the pace in qualifying, he did a great job and missed Q3 by so little and I think today he’s been incredible I mean seventh in your first race in Formula 1 having done only in FP3 in a new car is just hugely impressive.
“I’m sure he’s extremely proud but everybody has noticed how talented he is and I guess it’s just a matter of time before he comes here in Formula 1.”
Leclerc had qualified second and resisted an attack from Sergio Perez at the start, but he was powerless to prevent the Mexican from securing another Red Bull 1-2.
Despite claiming the bonus point for the fastest lap on his final tour of the race, the Monegasque trailed 18s behind Max Verstappen, who took a ninth straight win.
“We had quite a good pace because we were the fastest lap at the end,” he reflected. “I got helped a bit by the DRS. But overall, the feeling was pretty good.
“It was a bit of a boring race because the Red Bull were a bit too quick. And behind, we had a bit of a gap.
“But we took the maximum points we could today and that was the target, so that’s great.”
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