Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Formula 1
Ryan Smart
An F1 driver will miss the remainder of the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend through illness - and his replacement has already been announced.
Sprint qualifying for the main sprint race took place on Friday evening, with McLaren's Oscar Piastri taking pole position ahead of team-mate Lando Norris.
It was a tough session for Red Bull, with Max Verstappen in fourth and team-mate Sergio Perez in 13th after he was sent out with insufficient time to begin his lap before the chequered flag was waved in the second session.
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But a team who enjoyed a positive afternoon in Sao Paulo were Haas, with Oliver Bearman taking P10 on his F1 sprint weekend debut.
Bearman was drafted in at short notice on Friday to replace Kevin Magnussen, with the Dane absent through an unspecified sickness.
Haas initially announced that Bearman, who is the team's official reserve driver, would run in the sprint race but stopped short of stating whether he would take part in the rest of weekend.
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That has now been confirmed to be the case, with sickness forcing Magnussen to miss the Grand Prix itself.
As expected, Bearman will continue in his role for the race, marking his third Grand Prix in F1 this season while not having a full-time drive.
In a short statement, Haas confirmed: "Following Ollie stepping into the VF-24 for today's sessions due to Kevin's sickness, we can confirm that the British driver will now compete the full #BrazilGP weekend with the team.
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"We wish Kevin a full and speedy recovery."
He was substituted in for Magnussen in Azerbaijan after the Dane received a one-race ban for incurring too many penalty points.
In Saudi Arabia, Bearman replaced Carlos Sainz at Ferrari after the Spaniard was required to have emergency surgery to remove his appendix.
The young Brit put in a strong performance in Jeddah, finishing in seventh place, and despite struggling in F2 for much of the season with an uncompetitive Prema car, sufficiently impressed Haas chiefs to earn a full-time drive with the team alongside Esteban Ocon for 2025.
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Magnussen's absence means he now has three Grands Prix left with the American team, as his second stint with Haas will end after three seasons.
His team-mate Nico Hulkenberg will also leave the team at the end of the year to join Sauber, who will rebrand as Audi for 2026. The second Sauber driver has yet to be confirmed for 2025 - with that being just one of two currently available seats on the grid alongside the second seat at RB.