Carlos Sainz prepares for the first test in the Ferrari F1

The 2021 Formula 1 World Championship start is now about two months away, and new Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz is about to get his first taste behind the wheel of an F1 car with the famous Prancing Horse logo.

Ferrari is hosting a test session at its Fiorano test track in Italy this week. Sainz is expected to leave on January 27th and 28th. He will drive Ferrari’s car from the 2018 season. The test is an opportunity for Sainz to grapple with team operations and get to know the engineering team he will be working with in the new season.

He won’t test Ferrari’s 2021 F1 car until the official pre-season test, which has been postponed to March 12th due to Covid-19 coronavirus restrictions, takes place in Bahrain (instead of the Spanish location) The Grand The season opening Bahrain Prix will take place on March 28th.

Ferrari is expected to present its new F1 car shortly before the start of the test.

Carlos Sainz during a seat adjustment at Ferrari

Sainz, who has replaced Sebastian Vettel (now at Aston Martin), will drive alongside Charles Leclerc for the new season – the team’s youngest pairing since 1968. Sainz is 26 years old and Leclerc is 23.

Sainz, whose father was the successful rally driver Carlos Sainz Snr. Is, first raced in F1 in 2015, originally with Toro Rosso. He then drove briefly for Renault and then McLaren before signing with Ferrari. He finished sixth in the 2020 drivers’ championship and has two podiums in his career.

During this week’s test in Fiorano, Mick Schumacher, son of F1 legend Michael Schumacher and member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, will also spend some time behind the wheel. The youngest Formula 2 title winner is making his F1 debut this season together with Haas.

In other F1 news, 2009 World Champion Jenson Button returns to F1 as an advisor to Williams. He has also announced that he will be racing in the new Extreme E electric off-road series for his own team, JBXE. Lewis Hamilton will also field a team in the series, but not drive anything himself.