After taking part in practice, regular Ferrari racer Carlos Sainz was forced to undergo surgery for appendicitis to leave the team to call on the services of Prema Racing FIA F2 driver Bearman.
He had narrowly missed out on a Q3 appearance in qualifying so lined up 11th on the grid before launching well to then set about executing a string of well-judged passes - capped off by a dummy on Yuki Tsunoda to launch down the inside of the RB into Turn 1.
That came in addition to clean moves on Zhou Guanyu and Nico Hulkenberg on his way to an eventual seventh, Bearman crossing the line 24 seconds behind third-placed Leclerc.
For his efforts, Bearman was voted by viewers as the 'Driver of the Day'.
Rating his temporary team-mate's performance and the plaudits that came Bearman's way, Leclerc said: "I mean, he completely deserves it. 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.
"I think today, he's been incredible. I mean, seventh in your first race in F1, and having only done FP3 in a new car, is just hugely impressive. So, I'm sure he's extremely proud."
Source: Autosport