The highly-rated teenager is a Ferrari academy driver but is officially listed as Haas’s reserve driver and has previously entered two first practice sessions for the American team last year: in Mexico City and in Abu Dhabi.
It also means that he becomes the first English driver to race for Ferrari since Nigel Mansell in 1990, beating Lewis Hamilton – who races for the Scuderia next year – to that feat. Should he start the race on Saturday he will also become the third youngest driver to enter an F1 grand prix, behind Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen, who both race here this weekend.
It is a big ask to expect Bearman to be remotely on the pace and he will need plenty of track time in final practice (which begins at 1.30pm) to get used to the car. It helps somewhat that he has been driving here in F2 this weekend but the F1 car will be a different beast. Still, it is an excellent chance to showcase his credentials at a time when the grid for next year looks to be in flux.
Ferrari have not said how long they expect Sainz to be sidelined for but there is a two-week break before the next race in Australia (also aided by this weekend’s race taking place on Saturday) so there is a decent chance he will be in the cockpit in Melbourne.