He's an official Ferrari reserve and he made his F1 race debut in Saudi Arabia in place of the ill Carlos Sainz.

Bearman, 18, got his first taste of F1 machinery with the Scuderia towards the end of last year, in preparation for a pair of FP1 outings for Haas at the Mexican and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix.

He has since completed several more F1 test runs with and is currently competing in F2 with the Prema Racing team, having won four races and placed sixth in the feeder series standings last year.

After a tough start to the 2024 campaign for Prema in Bahrain, Bearman struck back to claim pole position at the high-speed Jeddah track but, with Sainz-subbing duties calling, he was required to temporarily drop his F2 commitments.

Not that he was complaining - a stunning performance saw the young Englishman score six points for seventh place in his first Grand Prix, enhancing his future F1 prospects no end.

Indeed, that drive helped him secure a full-time F1 seat with the Ferrari-powered Haas squad for 2025 – as well as an early Grand Prix debut with them in Azerbaijan ’24, as team regular Kevin Magnussen served out a one-race ban.

Bearman was called into action again at the start of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend, after Magnussen was taken ill ahead of Friday's running.