Only hours after it was reported that Scuderia Ferrari were planning on signing McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr as a replacement for Sebastian Vettel come next year, we now have official confirmation of the deal.
The two sides agreed to a two year contract (2021/2022), thus making the Leclerc-Sainz pairing Ferrari’s youngest in Formula 1 for the past 50 years.
Despite being just 25 years old, Sainz already has a great deal of Formula 1 experience, having taken part in 102 World Championship races over five seasons. Last year, he finished sixth in the Drivers’ Standings, after climbing on the podium in Brazil (3rd place).
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“I am very happy that I will be driving for Scuderia Ferrari in 2021 and I’m excited about my future with the team,” said the Spanish driver. “I still have an important year ahead with McLaren Racing and I’m really looking forward to going racing again with them this season.”
It’s also worth pointing out that 2021 will mark the first time since 2007 that Ferrari will not have a current or previous world champion driving for them – unless Charles Leclerc manages to win the 2020 title if/when racing finally gets going again.
“We’ve embarked on a new cycle with the aim of getting back to the top in Formula 1,” said team principal Mattia Binotto. “It will be a long journey, not without its difficulties, especially given the current financial and regulatory situation, which is undergoing a sudden change and will require this challenge to be tackled in a different way to the recent past.”
“We believe that a driver pairing with the talent and personality of Charles and Carlos, the youngest in the past fifty years of the Scuderia, will be the best possible combination to help us reach the goals we have set ourselves.”
Coincidentally, by joining Ferrari, Sainz’s career path will somewhat mirror that of his childhood hero, Fernando Alonso. Both drivers started at the same team (Alonso at Minardi, which later became Toro Rosso where Sainz made his debut in 2014). Then it was Renault for both, before Alonso joined Ferrari and then McLaren, the main difference being that Sainz will go from the latter to the former.
