Formula 1: Carlos Sainz Jr. signing shows rare Ferrari trend

Ferrari’s addition of Carlos Sainz Jr. to their driver lineup for the 2021 Formula 1 season indicates a trend which the team have rarely seen over the last several decades.

In mid-May, Ferrari confirmed that Carlos Sainz Jr. is set to replace four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel alongside Charles Leclerc beginning in the 2021 season.

In addition to the 2021 season being slated to become the first season since 2007 in which neither one of the Ferrari drivers are former world champions, assuming Leclerc doesn’t win the 2020 world title (a seemingly safe assumption considering how poorly the team qualified for today’s season-opening Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring), the 2021 season is slated to set another unique trend for Formula 1’s all-time most successful team.

Since 1974, Ferrari had only ever hired four drivers who had secured no more than one podium finish in their careers. Sainz, who has one, is the fifth. The other four are Niki Lauda, Eddie Irvine, Felipe Massa and most recently Leclerc.

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Lauda was hired by the team for the 1974 season and had a career-high finish of fifth place driving for Marlboro-BRM in the 1973 Belgian Grand Prix. The 1974 season was his fourth season in Formula 1 and third as a full-time driver. He spent four years with Ferrari and won 15 races and two world championships.

Irvine was hired by the team for the 1996 season and, like Sainz, had one career podium finish to his name, that being a third place finish driving for Total Jordan Peugeot in the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix. The 1996 season was his fourth season in Formula 1 and second as a full-time driver. He spent four years with Ferrari and won four races.

Massa was hired by the team for the 2006 season and had career-high finishes of fourth place driving for Sauber Petronas in the 2004 Belgian Grand Prix and the 2005 Canadian Grand Prix. The 2006 season was his fourth season in Formula 1 and fourth as a full-time driver. He spent eight years driving for Ferrari and won 11 races.

Leclerc was hired by the team for the 2019 season and had a career-high finish of sixth place driving for Sauber in the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The 2019 season was his second season in Formula 1 and second as a full-time driver. In his first year with the team, he won two races.

Finally, Sainz was hired by the team for the 2021 season and has one career podium finish to his name, that being a third place finish driving for McLaren in the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix. The 2021 season is set to be his seventh season in Formula 1 and his seventh as a full-time driver. He signed a two-year deal with the Scuderia.

With all of this considered, the 2021 season is set to be the first for Ferrari in which their driver lineup consists of two drivers who were both hired by the team before they had recorded more than one career podium finish in Formula 1. How successful will one of the youngest driver lineups in the history of the Italian team turn out to be?