“Where will he be starting on the grid from?”: Carlos Sainz arriving at the paddock for Saudi Arabia GP sends F1 fans into meltdown

Carlos Sainz made his presence on the 2024 F1 Saudi Arabian GP Paddock despite going through surgery for appendicitis earlier.

After Ferrari confirmed that the #55 driver would not be taking part in the further sessions of the Grand Prix, their junior driver Oliver Bearman stepped in. Bearman will begin the race from P11 after qualifying yesterday.

While most fans might have expected Carlos Sainz to remain in the hospital or at bed rest for the remainder of the weekend, he made a surprise appearance on the Paddock with the Ferrari crew. Although he looks better, it is apparent that the Spaniard will not be taking part in the race.

Fans on X (formerly Twitter) were still rather shocked to see him out so early. One user made a witty comment asking where Sainz would be starting the Grand Prix.

"Where will he be starting on the grid from?"

Most users were shocked to see Carlos Sainz returning to the paddock hours after having surgery done.

Some, however, were worried that he should be taking a rest under the circumstances.

"And the point of this is? We are happy to see things went well, but he is clearly tender from the operation. He should have went back to the hotel and relaxed."

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Carlos Sainz had been showing early signs of sickness throughout the weekend

Carlos Sainz wasn't able to fulfil his media obligations on Wednesday due to being unwell. Despite this setback, he showed resilience by participating in the first two practice sessions on Thursday, finishing P6 and P7, respectively.

On Friday, Ferrari confirmed that Sainz had been diagnosed with appendicitis and will not take part in the remaining sessions of the F1 Saudi Arabian GP.

Ferrari Driver Academy and F2 driver Oliver Bearman was called to serve his duties as their reserve driver. This also marked his F1 debut in a race, leaving behind his F2 race on the same track, where he was to start on pole position.

Although Bearman had only one practice session to get used to the SF-24 on the track, he managed to qualify P11, missing out on Q3 from just 0.036 seconds. His teammate for the weekend, Charles Leclerc, will be starting the race in P2, splitting the two Red Bulls on top.