Max Verstappen cruised from pole position all the way to victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Saturday, March 9. The flying Dutchman’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez followed him across the line to take second place, while a determined Charles Leclerc completed the podium in third place.
However, all eyes were on Leclerc’s stand-in teammate, the fan-voted ‘Driver of the Day’, Ollie Bearman. The 18 year-old Brit became the first driver to make a Formula 1 debut with Scuderia Ferrari in 52 years, after Carlos Sainz was diagnosed with appendicitis.
Bearman started his race in 11th place, and made several overtakes on his way to a very memorable seventh place finish in red, leading a pack of fellow British drivers across the line. McLaren’s Lando Norris managed an eighth place finish, while Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton struggled with poor strategy from the pit wall and ultimately wound up in ninth place.
After all that excitement in Jeddah, the F1 circus must pack up and head to Melbourne for the Australian GP on Sunday, March 24.
Featured image courtesy of @ScuderiaFerrari on X: Ollie Bearman
