When full-time Scuderia driver Carlos Sainz required surgery for appendicitis, team reserve driver and FIA F2 racer Bearman was called upon to partner Charles Leclerc from FP3 onwards.
The two-time Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award finalist narrowly missed out on a Q3 appearance in qualifying before lining up in 11th. He finished the Jeddah contest in seventh – with Leclerc scoring third – after a string of neatly executed overtakes, most notably dummying RB driver Yuki Tsunoda into Turn 1.
Bearman, 18, was sent many ‘good luck’ and congratulatory messages over the weekend, including from ex-Ferrari driver and four-time F1 world champion Vettel, who retired from racing with Aston Martin at the end of 2022.
The young Brit said: “I did get a lot of congratulations and also good luck messages before the race.
“My favourite one was from Sebastian Vettel. I’m a huge fan of his since the early days. I was, up until he retired, always routing for Seb. So, to get a message from him was really special.
“To know that he was kind of watching put a bit of pressure on, but it was a nice pressure.”
Source: Autosport