FerrariFormula 1McLaren

Carlos to Ferrari, Daniel to McLaren

So it has been made official – Carlos Sainz Jr. is moving to Ferrari from 2021 and Daniel Ricciardo will take his seat at McLaren and leaving Renault.

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto added that Sainz “had proved to be very talented and has shown that he has the technical ability and the right attributes”.

Ideal support for Leclerc

McLaren had to release Sainz from his contractual obligations to the team before he could join Ferrari – the team had an option on the 25-year-old Spaniard for 2021.

And they needed to secure Ricciardo’s signature before that happened.

Ferrari have identified Sainz as the ideal support for Leclerc, whose starring performances in his first season with the team last year undermined Vettel’s status and precipitated his departure when he was not prepared to accept diminished contractual terms. Leclerc signed a five-year deal until 2024 over the winter.

Ferrari, who say they have signed Sainz on a two-year deal, will envisage the Spaniard in the type of back-up role Valtteri Bottas plays to Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes – quick enough to be close to him and engage in battle with other front-runners but unlikely to be a consistent challenge.

Binotto added: “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, 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 50 years of the Scuderia, will be the best possible combination to help us reach the goals we have set ourselves.”

Sainz, who previously drove for Toro Rosso and Renault before moving to McLaren last year, is likely to view the move as an opportunity to prove himself as a top-line driver.

Sainz said he was “excited about my future” with Ferrari but “looking forward to the season ahead with McLaren”.

Sainz excelled in his first season with McLaren last year and his strong race performances have earned him the call-up from Ferrari.

The domino effect in the driver market was triggered when negotiations over a new contract between Ferrari and Vettel failed.

Ferrari announced on Tuesday that the German four-time world champion would be leaving the team at the end of the 2020 season, which is currently on ice as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

McLaren’s major coup

Ricciardo came close to joining McLaren in 2019 when he left Red Bull, but in the end chose Renault because they were more competitive at the time.

But the two teams’ fortunes diverged last year, with McLaren jumping up the grid and Renault’s progress back towards the top stalling; in fact they fell behind McLaren to finish fifth in the championship.

Ricciardo has now decided that McLaren are a better bet for the future – a decision partly influenced by their switch to Mercedes engines for the 2021 season.

That is one of a number of significant decisions made by new team principal Andreas Seidl, who has impressed with his no-nonsense, get-on-with-it approach since joining the team in May last year.

“Signing Daniel is another step forward in our long-term plan and will bring an exciting new dimension,” said Brown.

“I also want to pay tribute to Carlos for the excellent job he has been doing for McLaren in helping our performance recovery plan. He is a real team player and we wish him well for his future beyond McLaren.”

Signing the 30-year-old Australian, a seven-time winner with Red Bull between 2014 and 2018, is a major coup for McLaren, who last year made impressive progress back to fourth in the championship after a dismal few years falling down the grid.

Seidl said: “Daniel is a proven race-winner and his experience, commitment and energy will be a valuable addition to McLaren and our mission to return to the front of the field. With Daniel and Lando as team-mates, I believe we have two racers who will continue to excite our fans and help the team grow.”

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