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Paris (AFP)
Ferrari decided to bet on the Spanish Carlos Sainz to succeed the German Sebastian Vettel behind the wheel “Scuderia” from the 2021 season of the F1 world championship, on a “long journey to return to the summit” and try to win the absent world title of the Italian team since 2008.
McLaren paved the way for Ferrari to reveal its two-year contract with Signis to drive alongside Charles Locklear of Monaco, announcing minutes earlier that he had agreed with Australian Daniel Ricciardo to lead alongside Britain’s Lando Norris from 2021, i.e. after the end of the two-year contract with his current team Renault
The news of the signing of the 25-year-old Spaniard was not surprising, as his name has circulated as Vettel’s successor since he announced Tuesday that the latter will leave “Scuderia” at the end of the season, which has not yet started due to the outbreak. of the new Corona virus.
“I am delighted to drive the Scuderia Ferrari in 2021 as I am excited about my future with the team. There is still an important year ahead with McLaren Racing, and I look forward to competing with them again this season,” said Saenz.
The signs of joining Ferrari to lead alongside Charles Locklear of Monaco are a question mark, especially from his modest record in the first category where he started his career in 2015 with Toro Rousseau alongside current Dutch Red Bull Max star. Verstappen.
Unlike his Dutch teammate who was rewarded the following year with his promotion to the Red Bull core team, Saenz suffered the son of the former Spanish driver of the same name, and moved to Renault in 2017 without achieving any results, and waited until last year to climb onto the podium for the first time in his career when third in the Brazilian career at the wheel of a McLaren.
But it seemed that the options were limited for Ferrari, which led him to bet on Signs, who “demonstrated in the five seasons that he has fought so far, that he is very talented and has shown that he has the technical capacity and characteristics to make him it suits our family well, “according to Ferrari director Mattia Pinotto.
“We have embarked on a new era with the aim of returning to the Formula One summit. It will be a long journey that is not without difficulties, especially in light of the current financial and organizational situation, which places us before a sudden change and it forces us to approach this challenge differently than we did in the recent past. “
He considered that the partnership between Locklear and Sines, “the youngest duo in the last fifty years at Scuderia, would be the best possible combination to help us achieve the goals we set for ourselves.”
– “A step ahead” –
Like Ferrari, which failed to restore the glories of the past despite hiring two former Spanish world champions Fernando Alonso and Vettel, McLaren is looking to return to competition and build for the future in hopes of winning the culminating title. with him for the last time in 2008 when the British Lewis Hamilton won the title Drivers with the manufacturer title went to Ferrari.
The British team decided to trust Ricciardo’s experience and knowledge, coinciding with the return of his association with Mercedes engines from 2021 instead of Renault engines, to drive alongside the British Lando Norris.
The British team said in a statement Thursday that “it signed a multi-year agreement with Daniel Ricciardo to compete with the team in the Formula One World Championship starting in 2021.”
“Ricciardo, 30, from Perth, Australia, will join Lando Norris, 20, who will play his third season with McLaren in 2021. Carlos Sainz will leave the team at the end of the 2020 season after two years with McLaren” .
“Signing with Daniel is another step forward in our long-term plan, and it will bring an exciting new dimension to the team, along with Landau. This is good news for our team, our partners and, of course, for our fans,” he said. McLaren CEO Zach Brown.
“I would also like to pay tribute to Carlos (Sainz) for the excellent job he did for McLaren in assisting our recovery plan. He is a true team player and we wish him the best for his future away from McLaren.”
The news of the Australian’s move to McLaren was not surprising, but it was negotiated in the last few hours, immediately after Ferrari and Vettel announced that the latter is playing his final season with the Italian team, especially regarding Sains’ solutions in Scuderia in place of the four-time world champion (2010-2013).
And revealed the British “Sky Sports”, which owns the rights to broadcast the top-notch championship yesterday, that negotiations between Ferrari and Science have reached advanced stages, and the official announcement to join “Scuderia” may be announced before the end. This week.
Ferrari and Vettel announced on Tuesday that the latter’s march with the team will end this year after the absence of a “common desire” to continue the trip, without revealing the identity of the driver who will succeed him.
But the name Sains was offered as a possible successor to Vettel, who defended Ferrari’s colors of the 2015 season.
With Ricciardo’s seat vacant at Renault, the conversation has already started about an alternative to the Spanish driver, and his compatriot, Fernando Alonso, 38, who has been out of Group A since 2018, may be tempted, but the temptation to Returning to the team he crowned with his two world titles can be irresistible.
There is also the name of Vettel, who saw Ferrari “that there is no longer a common desire to stay together beyond the end of this season … To obtain the best results in this sport, it is vital that all parties work perfectly harmony”.
© 2020 AFP
