Carlos Sainz has been the most sought driver in the market ever since he was made available by Ferrari for 2025. His manager, Carlos Onoro, who is also his cousin, has now given fresh updates about the 29-year-old’s future, where he reveals that he had certain phone calls, and presently the ‘juggling’ is going on.
“The driver market has been all over the place lately and I think we will see some movements in the upcoming weeks but for the moment, the juggling continues,” said Onoro. However, he hesitates to reveal which teams have contacted so far.
However, going by the recent reports, Red Bull, Mercedes, and Audi, who will take over Sauber, have shown interest in signing Sainz. Recently, Aston Martin was also reportedly interested. However, since they chose to extend Fernando Alonso’s deal till the end of 2026, it doesn’t leave room for Sainz at the Silverstone-based team.
carlos sainz listen to me pic.twitter.com/kfyRFAdahm
— ri | cs55 (@rilovescs55) April 24, 2024
Meanwhile, according to Helmut Marko, Audi seem the favorites to sign Sainz. The Austrian recently revealed that Audi has offered a colossal offer to Sainz, which monetarily Red Bull can’t match.
Meanwhile, Mercedes is also yet to decide whether to sign the proven Sainz or invest in their youth star, Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Moreover, there have also been murmurs around Antonelli arousing Williams’ interest.
But definitely, Sainz would want to remain in a team that can vie for the wins. That factor also jeopardizes Audi’s advancements as there is no definite answer to when the German brand will be competitive once they enter the grid in 2026.
When will Carlos Sainz announce his decision?
So far, the anticipation around Carlos Sainz’s future is one of the biggest talking points for the F1 media. Thus, Carlos Onoro was asked whether there could be an announcement within the trip between Shanghai and Miami. In response, Onoro clearly said that nothing would happen in that period.
“No, no, no! You can sleep well between China and Miami, don’t worry! There will be no big news at least coming from us, for sure not. We’re still playing the game, so we’ll see,” he said. In this manner, he has left the entire saga to bear more speculations.
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Sainz’s decision could be on hold due to the potential external factors in play that can produce more opportunities. The biggest of all is Max Verstappen’s possible exit from Red Bull. The Dutchman was reportedly seeking a move out when Christian Horner’s controversy was at its peak.
However, nothing new has surfaced and Horner’s crisis story has also gone quiet. But if the status quo at Red Bull is disturbed, it could compel Verstappen to look elsewhere, with Mercedes already in line to give him a lucrative offer.
