Official: Carlos Sainz signs with Ferrari for 2021

Scuderia Ferrari confirmed this Thursday morning in a statement the news that the entire paddock had been anticipating for a few hours: Carlos Sainz Jr will team up with Charles Leclerc starting next season!

The Italian team officially announced the news a few minutes after the announcement of Daniel Ricciardo’s transfer to McLaren starting in 2021.

A contract spanning two seasons

At 25 years old, Carlos Sainz Jr has signed a contract with Ferrari for two seasons (2021-2022). He will join Maranello at the end of the championship truncated by the coronavirus health crisis. With an average age of 24 and a half at the start of the first Grand Prix next year, the duo formed by Sainz and Leclerc will be the youngest in the entire history of Scuderia Ferrari!

Present in Formula 1 since 2015, the son of rally and rally-raid driver Carlos Sainz Sr signs with a fourth different team. Coming from the Red Bull junior program, Carlos Sainz Jr made his debut with Toro Rosso, alongside Max Verstappen. He then joined Renault in 2017 and McLaren in 2019.

With this transfer to Ferrari, Carlos Sainz Jr fully follows in the footsteps of Fernando Alonso, who had started with Minardi (which became Toro Rosso in 2005), before signing with Renault, McLaren… and Ferrari!

Author of one podium in 102 races, Carlos Sainz Jr’s statistics do not necessarily speak in his favor for the moment. But next year, he will surely have a car capable of regularly putting him on the podium, or even competing for victory.

As a reminder, Carlos Sainz Jr managed the feat of securing third place on the podium in 2019 at the Brazilian Grand Prix, following the penalty imposed by the stewards on Lewis Hamilton, who was guilty of a collision with Alexander Albon’s Red Bull.

This Thursday morning, Carlos Sainz Jr also had the grace to thank McLaren through a video on his YouTube account, while reaffirming his determination to end their collaboration in the best possible way.