The Toro Rosso Formula 1 team announced on Friday evening that Carlos Sainz Jr will drive for the team in 2015.

This comes two days after Jean-Eric Vergne announced on Twitter that he will not be driving for the team in 2015.

It also means that Toro Rosso have finalised their line up for 2015 after announcing earlier this year that Dutch rookie Max Verstappen will drive for them next year, which will make it a fresh new line-up for the Faenza based team.

Sainz made his single seat debut in 2010 in Formula BMW after starting out in karting. He moved up the ranks to Formula Renault 2.0, onto British Formula 3 and then to GP3 n 2013. This year Sainz became the youngest ever winner of the World Series by Renault 3.5 Championship. Sainz secured a test with the Red Bull Formula 1 team at Abu Dhabi which took place two days ago.

“I am really happy to have landed the drive with Scuderia Toro Rosso,” said the 20 year-old Spaniard.

“Ever since I have been part of Red Bull’s Young Driver Programme, this has been my aim and I want to thank Red Bull for putting their faith in me.

“I have had a very successful season in World Series by Renault this year and now I am looking forward to taking the step up to Formula 1.

“I tested for a day with Toro Rosso last year and I liked the atmosphere in the team. In the next few months I will be working hard on my preparation, ready to get in the cockpit in Jerez for the first test of next year. It will be nice to make my “official” debut as a Formula 1 driver in my home country!”

Team Principal Franz Tost had this to say about the rookie: “With Carlos Sainz joining Max Verstappen in our driver line-up next year, we continue the Toro Rosso tradition of providing youngsters from the Red Bull Junior Driver Programme with their first steps in Formula 1.”

“I have watched Carlos progress through the junior categories, always improving as he moved higher up the ladder, culminating in a well-deserved win in this year’s World Series.

“However, I also remember the day’s testing he did with us at Silverstone in 2013 in the STR8. He really surprised me and his engineers that day, with his mature approach and his speed.”

Photo Credit: Toro Rosso Formula 1 Team