Oliver Bearman was left shocked midway through his post-qualifying interview on Sky Sports after rewatching footage of his Q2 run in Saudi Arabia.
The British teenager was all set for another weekend in F2 with Prema Racing and qualified on pole for the feature race.
But his plans took a huge turn when Carlos Sainz was diagnosed with appendicitis with the Spaniard requiring surgery.
Ferrari called up Bearman to take Sainz's seat with the 18-year-old making his debut in FP3.
Oliver Bearman was surprised how close he came to the wall
SKYSPORTS
Just a few hours later and the British teenage sensation was out on track for his first-ever night session in F1.
Nerves were understandably on show with a few mistakes creeping in to some of his runs on the tricky Jeddah circuit.
He agonisingly missed out on making it through to Q3 with Lewis Hamilton pipping him to 10th.
After qualifying, Sky Sports spoke to a candid Bearman who admitted to being disappointed at not making it through to Q3.
But he was distracted at one stage when he saw a replay that showed him going extremely close to touching the wall.
"The goal was to do as many laps as possible because I was missing a few laps, especially at night," he said before a smile broke out.
"I messed up Q2 which was not ideal... oop. Wow I was close to the wall there.
"I didn't notice that. I'll take more care tomorrow."
Bearman also showed his class with a touching message for Sainz, adding: "I woke up preparing and mentally thinking about my F2 race then I got chucked in the deep end for F1 FP3 and qualifying.
Oliver Bearman was disappointed to qualify 11th
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"Of course not the ideal situation and I feel sorry for Carlos and wish him the best but it's a fantastic opportunity. A bit disappointed with everything but it was a fun day out there."
Bearman's competitiveness was clear to see as well with the teenager not completely satisfied with his F1 qualifying debut.
"At the moment not so proud, the racer in me knows that the car was quick enough to be in Q3, so a little bit disappointed with that," he said.
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Oliver Bearman was only given the call to replace Carlos Sainz a few hours earlier
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"But I know that when I look back in a couple of days I'll be quite proud of what I've managed to do today.
"The soft tyre lasts quite well, it's quite durable, so just tried to get as many laps in Q1.
"Q2 was a bit more messy, a few mistakes on my side, so that's where I'm disappointed."
