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Possibly as a response to the success of Red Bull's Driver Search, Ferrari established their own Driver Academy in 2010.
The Scuderia are known as a team that traditionally only take on proven - and therefore, experience - drivers to pilot their cars, but Charles Leclerc's recent promotion has bucked that trend.
There have been other excellent talents to have come from their academy, including some that will surprise you for their involvement in the Italian team's system.
With Mick Schumacher recently testing the SF-90 in Bahrain, the conveyer belt of talent is showing little sign of slowing down. Here's the five biggest names to have come throught the red ranks since its inception.
#5 Lance Stroll
While Schumacher Jr. is already looking like a future star of Formula 1, the German youngster hasn't yet made it to the pinnacle of motorsport, unlike Lance Stroll.
Stroll enrolled into the Ferrari academy in 2010, when the Canadian was still in karting. Backed by his father's billions, Stroll quickly climbed through the junior formulae to become a full-time driver at Williams.
His much more experienced teammate, Felipe Massa, outclassed the 18-year-old through most of the season, but Stroll did claim a superb podium in Baku.
Stroll is a controversial driver in F1 to say the least, but the fact remains that he's the second youngest man to stand on an Formula 1 podium.
His third place at the 2017 Azerbaijan GP was thanks largely to the Canadian steering clear of the chaos that more talented drivers couldn't manage.
Williams were the slowest team on the grid in 2018, but Stroll's move to Racing Point for 2019 has provided him with a chance to fight for points once more, claiming a ninth-placed finish on debut in Australia.
Stroll isn't the best driver on the F1 grid by any stretch (he might well be the slowest), but he's still only 20-years-old, younger than Lewis Hamilton when he made his debut. Time is definately on his side.
#4 Sergio Perez
Sergio Perez is without doubt one of the most underrated drives currently in Formula 1, and the Mexican got his Grand Prix chance via the Ferrari driver academy.
Perez was snapped up in 2010, the year he finished runner-up to Pastor Maldonado in the GP2 series (now Formula 2) and Sergio would go on to become a Sauber driver for 2011.
2012 was where Perez really shined, though, as he came close to victory in treacherous conditions in Malaysia. The result in Sepang was one of three podiums that year, as he began a habbit of out-performing his midfield machinery.
A year to forget at McLaren in 2013 ended his relationship with Ferrari, but helped by the finances of Carlos Slim, Perez signed for Force India for 2014.
Since then, he's stood on the podium an additonal five times, including one at the most prestigious race of them all, the Monaco Grand Prix. He's also claimed F1's unofficial "best of the rest" spot in 2016 & 17, as well as being the only man from outside a top 3 team to stand on the podium last year.
If you were to criticise one aspect of Perez's F1 career, it would probably be his decision making when it comes to choosing his team. In 2016, Checo turned down a move to Renault, something that his then-teammate Nico Hulkenberg didn't do.
Perhaps Sergio is biding his time, but it certainly seems as though Renault have a much chance than Force India (now called Racing Point) of claiming podiums and wins in the near future.
#3 Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa's success was the inspiration behind the Ferrari driver academy, so the Brazilian driver has to be included on this list.
Massa had his F1 debut with Sauber in 2002, a popular route to become a Ferrari driver. After a decent debut campaign, he became Ferrari's test driver for '03, before being loaned back to the Swiss outfit for two years in 2004 and '05.
Those two campaigns were middling years for Massa, as he returned to drive for Sauber but couldn't quite reach the podium, although he did manage a couple of fourth places, no mean feat in that car.
2006 saw Massa drive for Ferrari alongside Schumacher, a year that would see him pick up his first win in Turkey and also win his home race at the final round in Brazil.
The following year brought Kimi Raikkonen to the team, and although Massa was solid, he couldn't quite manage a title challenge. That was until 2008, however...
Felipe managed a very impressive six wins that year as he duked it out with Lewis Hamilton for the title and appeared to have won it in Brazil until a last-corner overtake by the Brit saw the Hamilton win his first world championship.
That seemed to be unlucky, but it's a miracle that Massa continued in F1 after his horrifying crash with a spring in Hungary in 2009. That saw Massa sit on the sidelines for the rest of the year, but he returned in 2010 to partner Fernando Alonso at Ferrari.
In truth, Massa was never the same driver after his accident, never returning to the top step of the podium despite driving some winning cars. He remained at Ferrari until 2013, when he joined his final team in F1, Williams.
Massa had some good chances to win as the Grove outfit enjoyed a revival under new regulations but Mercedes were just too good.
In 2016, Massa announced his retirement but he surprisingly returned for 2017, as Williams needed an experienced driver to partner Lance Stroll. In all, 11 wins and 41 podiums is an excellent record by anybody's standards.
#2 Jules Bianchi
When writing about Formula 1 drivers from the 1960's to the 80's, the phrase "but their time was cut short" is used far too often. The rate of fatalities during this era was tragically high, but Jules Bianchi is one of the few examples of a driver fatality in Grand Prix racing's modern period.
Bianchi was the first driver to sign for the Ferrari programme, joining in 2009 when aged just 19. Although he didn't win the GP2 series nor Formula Renault 3.5, th Frenchman's talents were clear to see and Marussia gave him his F1 debut in 2013.
The Marussia was a backmarker car with no real hope of scoring points, but that didn't stop Bianchi from doing so. His previous best was 13th in Malaysia in 2013, but he'd sensationally finish in ninth place at the 2014 Monaco GP. Not dissimilarly to Stroll's podium in Baku, Bianchi avoided the chaos to finish eighth on the road, only dropping to ninth due to a penalty. These were Marussia's only ever points in F1, and the high-point for the team.
Jules was tipped for a Ferrari seat in the near-future, he was that talented, as Sebastian Vettel confirmed when he paid tribute to Bianchi at the 2015 Hungarian GP.
Bianchi would lose his life in tragic circumstances later in the 2014 season, something you can read more about here.
#1 Charles Leclerc
Charles Leclerc's rookie season in 2018 was one of the best debut campaigns in Formula 1 history and he was one of the standout drivers that year too.
The Monegasque driver was good friends with Jules Bianchi, and has taken the spot that the late Frenchman was destined to take alongside Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari for 2019.
Leclerc's season with Sauber continued his excellent form in the junior categories, as he won GP3 and F2 in back-to-back season while being a Ferrari junior driver.
Marcus Ericsson had been with Sauber since 2015, but Leclerc well and truly usurped the Swede, finishing "best of the rest" in many races and as high as sixth in Azerbaijan.
Leclerc's speed, consistency, wheel-to-wheel skill and mature attitude convinced the Prancing Horse to make Charles their second-youngest driver ever for 2019.
His third place in Bahrain may have been a dissapointment due to an engine issue, but he did become the sixth-youngest man to stand on the podium and the third youngest to set a fastest lap. As Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas said in the post-race cooldown room, he's got a very bright future indeed, and his first win won't be too far away.
But who do you think is the best driver to have come through the Ferrari driver academy? Is it Leclerc or someone else? Let us know in the comments below!
