Charles Leclerc praised his temporary teammate Oliver Bearman’s performance after he finished 7th in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Bearman replaced Carlos Sainz since Friday as the Spanish driver suffered from appendicitis, undergoing a surgery that left him out after driving both practice sessions on Thursday.
Sainz is recovering well and watched Saturday’s race from the Ferrari pit wall.
Bearman was voted as Driver of the Day by F1’s viewers and after the race, Leclerc said, “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.
“Everybody noticed how talented he is,” Leclerc added. “And I guess it’s just a matter of time before he comes here in Formula 1.”
Speaking about his race performance, Leclerc said Ferrari “had quite a good pace because we had the fastest lap at the end – I got a bit helped by a DRS.”
“But overall, the feeling was pretty good.
“It was a bit of a boring race because Red Bull were a bit too quick. Behind, we had a bit of a gap. But we took the maximum points we could today. That was the target.”