Driver Profiles: Leclerc and Sainz (Scuderia Ferrari)

Scuderia Ferrari is the oldest and most successful team on the Formula 1 grid. The team was founded by Enzo Ferrari back in 1929 to enter many different amateur races in cars produced by Alfa Romeo, with the iconic prancing horse logo first appearing in 1935. The team only starting to produce its own cars in 1947 with its first race entry at Monaco in 1950. Since then, they have won 16 Constructors Championships and 15 Drivers Championships. The team also has huge success outside of F1, winning a huge variety of races, including 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Spa, the World Sportscar Championship and 24 Hours of Daytona. Their cars have been driven by racing royalty, including Niki Lauda, Michael Schumacher, Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel. The team’s drivers for the 2021 season are Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

Charles Leclerc #16

Charles Leclerc is a 23-year-old Monaco native who started his career karting in 2005. In 2014, Leclerc drove for the British team Fortec Motorsport in Formula Renault 2.0 Alps, taking the junior title. In 2015, he moved to Formula 3, taking part in post-season testing for ART Grand Prix, before being confirmed as the driver for the 2016 GP3 season, and winning the title that year. The driver then drove for Prema Racing in F2 for the 2017 season and took the title, beating out other future F1 drivers such as Alex Albon. Leclerc joined the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2016, testing for both Haas and Ferrari and participating in a few FP1 Session. He continued to test for Ferrari in 2017, before being confirmed as a Sauber driver for the 2018 season. He was then signed as a Ferrari driver for the 2019 season where he has remained ever since; the young driver has 2 race wins and 12 podiums with the team. Leclerc is the godson of Jules Bianchi who heart-breaking died in a tragic racing accident at the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix; it was thought the French driver would end up racing for Ferrari and Leclerc has now followed in his footsteps, embodying his legacy. Outside the sport, Leclerc models for Giorgio Armani as well as being an Ambassador for the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation, promoting the benefits of learning to swim. He has also supported the Red Cross of Monaco and France in a multitude of endeavours.

Carlos Sainz #55

Carlos Sainz Jr is a 26-year-old Spanish driver and is the son of World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz. Like many other F1 drivers, he started out in Karting, winning a few titles before graduating to Formula BMW in 2010 as part of the Red Bull Junior team. He also competed in the UK Formula Renault Winter Cup. The Spaniard raced in both the British and Euro series of F3, before moving onto GP3, driving for Arden which is co-owned by Christian Horner and Mark Webber. He then raced in Formula Renault 3.5 in 2013 whilst also testing for Toro Rosso and Red Bull. Sainz was announced as a Toro Rosso driver for the 2015 season, where he stayed until moving to Renault for the 2017 season to partner Hulkenburg. It was then announced that he would be driving for McLaren for the 2019 and 2020 season, partnering Norris, creating the iconic F1 bromance and taking 2 podiums. The driver is new to the Ferrari team for the 2021 season, replacing Vettel.

Other Drivers

The team's reserve driver is Antonio Giovinazzi. They are the only team to have a reserve driver who is also on the grid for another team. You can read more about him here!