British teenager Oliver Bearman made an impressive start for Ferrari as he stepped in to deputise for an ill Carlos Sainz. 

The 18-year-old will become the third youngest driver to start a Formula One grand prix in Saturday’s Saudi Arabia Grand Prix. He was not overawed by the occasion as he stepped into the SF24 for the first time in final practice in Jeddah. 

The British Ferrari academy driver – and Haas reserve – finished third practice in 10th and within a tenth of a second of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. 

Bearman, who was competing in the F2 championship in Jeddah this weekend, has been given a rare opportunity to showcase his talents on the biggest stage after Sainz was diagnosed with appendicitis and was sent for surgery on Friday morning. 

Bearman completed 17 laps for Ferrari in a session that was disrupted as Zhou Guanyu crashed into the barriers, bringing out the red flag. Max Verstappen topped the timesheets overall ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez. George Russell was fourth for Mercedes and Lando Norris fifth. 

The real test of Bearman’s skills will be in qualifying (at 5pm GMT) at the high-speed and occasionally perilous Jeddah Corniche Circuit.