Scuderia Ferrari has made many of the headlines around the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and for once they were for all good reasons. Ferrari continue to show that they are the clear number two on the grid, closing the gap now to Red Bull at just over three tenths. The long season could possibly play into the Prancing Horses favor as they look to turn the tide on a dominating Red Bull team.

Youngster Ferrari reserve driver Oliver Bearman put up a shockingly good performance in Saudi Arabia, logging a P7 finish in his first ever F1 appearance. This transpired due to Carlos Sainz being held out of the race on short notice due to appendicitis.

Ferrari Found a Driver of the Future

Bearman got a once in a lifetime opportunity and definitely made the most of it, impressing Ferrari and the F1 community on a relatively difficult track in Jeddah. This gives much hope to Ferrari in the future as they now hold a solid plan moving forward. We may see Oliver Bearman in a Haas or Sauber come next season, preparing for his seemingly eventual place in Ferrari once Hamilton fulfills his childhood dream on the Italian Racing Team.

Ferrari's Near Future Also Holds Promise

Now speaking of Lewis Hamilton, we saw in Jeddah that he still has some driving talent left in the tank. After a bad strategy call from Mercedes, Hamilton was forced to hold off McLaren driver Oscar Piastri while on old medium tires. Whether it be the lack of pace from the McLaren or impatience of Piastri, Hamilton was able to fend off the Australian mightily until he eventually had to give up position heading into the pits. This is a good sign for Ferrari, because if Hamilton could still extract the maximum from an underdeveloped car, he definitely could perform in a hopefully Red Bull challenging Ferrari next year.

We Cannot Forget About the Current Talent at Ferrari

Back to the most recent race and the upcoming Grand Prix in Australia, Ferrari's development team and drivers seem to be clicking. Maybe we will be in for a Championship fight as Ferrai's tire degradation issue of last year seems to have stayed in last year. A positive sign of this is that in the final lap in Jeddah, Charles Leclerc was able to clock the fastest lap on old hard tires, while some other mid-field teams were on fresh softs.

With upgrades on the horizon, we could potentially see the F1 2024 season start to get competitive.