Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur is not sure if driver Carlos Sainz will be fit to race at the Australian Grand Prix following surgery for appendicitis.
Sainz missed the race in Saudi Arabia after undergoing surgery last Friday, and was replaced by academy driver Oliver Bearman.
The Spaniard was already present at the Ferrari pit wall during the race, making an impressively fast recovery. However, team principal Vasseur is not sure Sainz will be ready for the Grand Prix at Melbourne in two weeks’ time.
“It was a strange situation at the beginning of the weekend,” Vasseur explained.
“We were convinced it was food poisoning, but he struggled a lot on Thursday in both [practice] sessions with fever and stomach issues, but he was convinced that it would be much better the day after.
“But he called me [on Friday morning] and said, ‘I will miss FP3 but I’ll be there for qualifying for sure’, and at 11:30am he was in the hospital.
“It was quite clear that we were not going in the right direction.
“There was no delay in putting [Bearman] in, I don’t remember the timing exactly, but as soon as it was clear from the doctor that [Sainz] would be unable to drive, we took the decision to put Oliver in.
“Thanks to the hospital in Jeddah and to everybody from the organization that did the surgery, and this morning I visited him [Sainz] and he was completely okay.
“It is a huge recovery, and we have to be focused on Melbourne.
“He will have a good rest this week and we will see [if he races in Australia].
“I don’t want to rush or something like that, he is an adult and he will take the right decision.”