Spanish driver Carlos Sainz will replace four-time Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari next season, while Daniel Ricciardo has signed a “multi-year” deal with McLaren from 2021.
Sainz, 25, will leave McLaren following the 2020 season to partner 22-year-old Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, forming the team’s youngest pairing in the past 50 years.
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“With five seasons already behind him, Carlos has proved to be very talented and has shown that he has the technical ability and the right attributes to make him an ideal fit with our family,” Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto said in a statement on Thursday.
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“We’ve embarked on a new cycle with the aim of getting back to the top in Formula 1. It will be a long journey, not without its difficulties,” he added, referring to the additional challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s a dream,” said Sainz in a video he posted on social media. “I think you can imagine how happy I am, and what a special day it is for me.”
Here are five things to know about about Sainz:
Racing in the blood
Carlos Sainz Jr is the son of Spain’s two-time world rally champion Carlos Sainz, who won a third Dakar Rally in January. His uncle Antonio Sainz was also a rally driver.
Madrid-born Sainz started his career like most racing drivers in karting, winning the Junior Monaco Kart Cup in 2009, moving on to Formula 3, before coming through the tough selection process for the Red Bull Junior Team in 2015.
“I’ve given him some advice but the most important was ‘enjoy yourself’,” said 58-year-old Sainz Sr, world rally champion in 1990 and 1992 with Toyota, and runner-up four times.
Four teams in five years
Sainz has competed for four different teams in five years – Toro Rosso, Renault, McLaren, and now Ferrari – while always bringing home useful points.
He made his Formula One debut in 2015 with Toro Rosso alongside Max Verstappen, before joining Renault in 2017, moving on to McLaren in 2019.
So far he has raced 102 Grands Prix highlighted by a sixth-place finish in the first year at McLaren last season, underlining his consistent growth.
Ends McLaren drought
Sainz delivered McLaren’s first podium in five years with third in Brazil last year, awarded retrospectively, after a sensational comeback from 20th and last on the grid.
After a five-race point-scoring streak from France to Hungary, he finished the 2019 championship with 96 points and in sixth place.
“The big step forward was made last year, this year is more one of continuation,” said Sainz.
Speaks Italian fluently
Sainz should have no problem settling in at Maranello as he speaks fluent Italian, perfected during his karting days.
The Spaniard lived for three years with Italians while at Toro Rosso, whose headquarters are in Faenza, like Ferrari also based in the Emilia Romagna region.
Third Spaniard at Ferrari
Sainz becomes the third Spaniard to drive for the ‘Prancing Horse’ after former two-time world champion Fernando Alonso from 2010-2014 and Alfonso de Portago briefly in 1956-1957.
“Carlos is doing great, and not only last year,” said compatriot Alonso, a friend and advisor to the young Sainz during his first steps in Formula One.
“Since Toro Rosso, he has done a great job. He had Verstappen as a partner from the beginning, after that he had (Nico) Hulkenberg. He has always had tough competitors at his side and he has always done well.”
(With AFP inputs)
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