‘Fear your replacement’ – well, Carlos Sainz does not believe this at all. The Spaniard came into the 2024 F1 season knowing that it would be his last with Ferrari. He also knew that he needed to score maximum points at each Grand Prix to leave a lasting impression among his Scuderia crewmates. However, he had to skip the Saudi Arabian GP entirely because of a medical condition. On the Friday before the Main Race in Jeddah, he bowed out of his Ferrari duties temporarily as he needed an emergency appendectomy. And then, Oliver Bearman came up as his replacement for the race.

But Sainz did not show any bitterness to Ollie even though he was replacing the #55 racer. In fact, Carlos Sainz tried his best to make Oliver Bearman’s F1 debut as smooth and easy for the 19-year-old as possible. Without any prior experience of driving in a full-blown Formula 1 race, Bearman needed to quickly settle into Sainz’s car and make the best out of the situation. Given the challenges of the Jeddah circuit, it was a task that Carlos Jr. knew would not be easy for his young substitute.

However, Sainz disregarded his tough situation post-surgery and went on to help Ollie in several ways. Speaking on the help he got from the 29-year-old, Bearman told the ‘High Performance’ hosts, “First of all, [Carlos Sainz] sent me a message after the Qualifying to say ‘good job’ because it’s a bit of a headache in Qualifying, specifically with the tires in Jeddah. It’s quite tough to have them ready for the whole lap and, and, prepare them and that’s something I missed out on as well, you know.”

While Bearman lacked the experience needed to deal with the tires in Jeddah, Carlos Sainz’s advice proved to be his saving grace. Ollie said, “I didn’t really know how to prepare the tires, so [Sainz] said, ‘Just get through the first lap pretty cleanly or word to that effect.‘” Thanks to this, Oliver Bearman got an impressive P11 start to his debut F1 race. But how did Sainz make it to the race in Saudi Arabia if he was still in post-surgical care for his appendectomy?

Carlos Sainz reveals he wanted to “help Ollie with anything” he could

Carlos Sainz needed his appendix removed due to an infection just before the Jeddah GP weekend kickstarted. However, the Spaniard underwent the operation and was sitting at the Ferrari pits only two days later when Ollie substituted for him. Are you wondering how Sainz got the clearance to visit the paddocks only two days after surgery? Well, addressing this concern, the Spaniard said, “[My] doctors recommended me to go for a walk after the operation.”

Carlos Sainz continued, “I said rather than walking in my hotel room, I will walk into the paddock and watch the race with my engineers, learn something, and help Ollie and my engineers with anything I can.” And thus, he made sure he saw the entire race and mediated the communication between his crew and his substitute. Sainz made it easy for Oliver Bearman to understand the entire process because it was his first time driving in F1.

In the end, Carlos Sainz was an excellent mentor and he got the best of mentees in Oliver Bearman. The Briton brought some precious Championship points for Ferrari in his debut F1 Grand Prix. Do you think this shows how Ollie has the potential to be a future World Champion? Share in the comments.