The final practice session for Formula 1 at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix took an intense turn when Zhou Guanyu crashed, resulting in a shortened running time. The main focus of FP3 in Jeddah was on Ollie Bearman, a protege of Ferrari who is filling in for Carlos Sainz, who is unable to participate due to appendicitis. This session is Bearman’s only opportunity to familiarize himself with the Ferrari SF-24 before his first F1 qualifying session later today. Despite losing some running time due to Zhou’s crash, Bearman managed to complete one qualifying simulation at the end of FP3, securing the 10th-fastest time.
A red-flagged FP3 would have been the worst possible outcome for Bearman and Ferrari. However, he was able to complete the majority of the program designed to quickly introduce him to the SF-24 before his first qualifying session and grand prix debut on Saturday. Bearman’s performance was impressive, quickly adapting to the car and paying attention to small details that can make a difference. He raised issues such as an open radio and dash delta reset, and requested a slightly higher engine mode than usual after his qualifying simulation to push harder on the “cool down” lap and gain additional insight into the car’s performance on soft tires.
Bearman began FP3 with three push laps on medium tires, gradually improving his pace. He found a two-second improvement on the second lap and briefly held the fastest time on the third lap. The middle part of his session focused on a long run on the same medium tires, where he was encouraged to find a rhythm. He consistently improved his lap times, ending with two laps a second quicker than his initial times.
Unfortunately, Zhou’s crash prevented Bearman from completing a clean, multi-lap run on soft tires for his qualifying simulations. However, he did manage to complete one simulation, which proved to be a valuable test given the busy track and limited time. Bearman handled the simulation well, even recovering from a slightly wide line through Turns 22/23. He finished within a second of the fastest driver, Max Verstappen, and crucially, his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.
If Bearman can replicate this performance in qualifying, it would mean progressing to Q3 and putting him in a strong position to score points on his debut. While it may not seem like a significant achievement for a Ferrari driver, considering the circumstances, it would provide a solid foundation. Given Bearman’s progress in FP3 and his attention to detail, he may even have the potential for an even better result.
Towards the end of the session, Zhou lost control of his Sauber and crashed into the barriers at the high-speed Turn 7/8 section. This caused a red flag and significant damage to Zhou’s car, putting his participation in qualifying at risk. The damaged barriers were inspected and the session was restarted with five minutes remaining.
Prior to the red flag, Max Verstappen’s Red Bull set the fastest lap of the weekend at 1m28.412s, with a seven-tenths advantage over Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari. Verstappen was unable to improve on his final lap after the red flag, but other drivers managed to reduce his lead. Leclerc was the fastest among his rivals, finishing the session just 0.196s behind Verstappen. Sergio Perez moved up to third place, 0.494s behind his teammate Verstappen. George Russell was the fourth quickest driver for Mercedes, followed by Lando Norris and the Aston Martins, led by Fernando Alonso. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri secured the eighth-fastest time, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who complained of bouncing in his W15. Bearman completed the top 10.