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The exchange of driver seats in Formula 1 has completed a full circle with the announcement of Carlos Sainz as Ferrari driver for the 2021 season. The move was instigated after Sebastian Vettel and the Italian team decided not to renew their contract.
File image of Carlos Sainz. Reuters
Sainz, 25, will join Ferrari on a two-year contract after two seasons at McLaren, creating the youngest driver pairing in recent Ferrari history in the process. He joins Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari hot seat. In the previously announced move, Daniel Ricciardo will take Sainz’s place at McLaren leaving open space at Renault.
“I am very happy that I will drive for Scuderia Ferrari in 2021 and I am excited about my future with the team,” said Sainz. “I still have an important year ahead with McLaren Racing and I am looking forward to competing with them again this season”
2021 will mark the first time since 2007 that Ferrari has not had a current or previous world champion driving its car, unless Leclerc wins the title this season.
Team principal Mattia Binotto highlighted Sainz’s experience. “With five seasons behind him, Carlos has shown himself to be very talented and has shown that he has the right technical skills and attributes to make him fit our family perfectly.”
“We have embarked on a new cycle with the aim of returning to the top in Formula 1. 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 is approached in a different way than the recent past. “
“We believe that a driver who combines the talent and personality of Charles and Carlos, the youngest in Scuderia’s last fifty years, will be the best possible combination to help us achieve the goals we have set for ourselves.”
In the 2019 season, Sainz finished sixth in the drivers’ championship, the highest of any driver outside of the established big three of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. He finished third at the Brazilian Grand Prix for his first podium.
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