Sainz signs 2-year deal with Ferrari starting in 2021

Carlos Sainz Jr. will replace Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari.

The 25-year-old agreed to a two-year deal with the Italian race team Friday for the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

"We've embarked on a new cycle with the aim of getting back to the top in Formula 1," Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said in a statement. "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 fifty years of the Scuderia, will be the best possible combination to help us reach the goals we have set ourselves."

Sainz earned his first F1 podium result at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix with a third-place finish behind Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly. He had driven for McLaren since 2019 and will finish the 2020 season with the team.

On Tuesday, Vettel announced his departure from Ferrari at the completion of the 32-year-old's contract later this year.