The Monegasque driver burst onto the scene in 2019 during his first season with Ferrari, as he recorded 10 podium finishes, the most pole positions of any driver that season with seven, two wins and beat teammate Vettel in the world championship.įor 2021, Leclerc – widely tipped to be a future world champion – is paired with Carlos Sainz, who replaced Vettel. Sebastian Vettel, a four-time world champion with Red Bull, was told before the season that he would not be signed on for 2021 and the German went on to score just 33 points, while Charles Leclerc scored 98. The 2020 season was Ferrari’s worst performance in four decades, as they failed to win a single race, finished on the podium on just three occasions and finished sixth in the standings. When Schumacher and Ferrari dominated the sport for a then-unprecedented record of five consecutive world championship doubles, winning both the driver and constructor titles, the Italians became the most successful team in the sport – but now they are in limbo.
The Prancing Horses have dominated the sport with the most famous drivers, from Niki Lauda winning two world championships in the 1970s to Michael Schumacher’s dominance of the early 2000s, as the German claimed five straight titles donning the famous Maranello red.
This is because Ferrari and Formula 1 racing have become essentially inseparable, with the legendary Italian manufacturer standing alone as the only team to compete in every season since the world championship began. When you think of Formula 1, it is natural to think of the red racing car that is Ferrari. With the 2021 Formula 1 season getting underway this weekend in Bahrain, SWL profiles all the teams competing in this year’s championship, starting with Ferrari and Alfa Romeo.