FILE PHOTO: Formula One F1 - Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - March 6, 2024 Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. ahead of the Grand Prix REUTERS/Rula Rouhana/FILE PHOTO
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz is on track to return at Sunday's Australian Grand Prix after recovering from surgery for appendicitis, the Italian Formula One team said.
Sainz, who was third in the Bahrain season-opener and the last driver to beat dominant Red Bull with victory in Singapore last September, pulled out of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after his health issue was diagnosed.
The Spaniard was replaced by reserve driver Oliver Bearman at the Jeddah Corniche circuit but should be back in the race seat at Albert Park this week, the team said on Wednesday.
"Carlos is here in Melbourne since two days (ago) and is OK.
We are expecting him to drive," a spokesperson said.
Sainz is leaving Ferrari at the end of the season to make way for Mercedes' seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, who will take his seat next year.
British teenager Bearman stepped up for an extraordinary F1 race debut in Jeddah, finishing seventh after starting 11th on the grid as Ferrari's youngest ever rookie.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
