Carlos Sainz finds himself in a difficult position after being shown the door at Ferrari. With Lewis Hamilton set to replace him at Ferrari in 2025, Sainz is left with the option of joining either Williams or Sauber (which will soon become Audi’s works team). Both teams are a significant step down, considering their recent form, for a three-time Grand Prix winner.
However, Sainz’s priority remains to join a team of either Red Bull or Mercedes’ caliber. The concern for Sainz though is that both these sides don’t consider him a viable option but for different reasons.
There are two main reasons why Red Bull might not be interested in signing Sainz. Firstly, there’s a history of tension between Sainz and Max Verstappen from their time together at Toro Rosso in 2015.
This tension supposedly stemmed from their fathers, Carlos Sainz Senior and Jos Verstappen. Both are well-respected figures in the racing world, and their clashing egos created a difficult atmosphere for their sons.
Hence, Red Bull would rather avoid bringing this dynamic back into their main team. The second reason is that Red Bull prefers to have a clear number one driver.
Max Verstappen is their current star, and having another top driver like Sainz could disrupt this balance. This is because the Spanish driver is very much capable of challenging and possibly even unsettling Verstappen, unlike the Dutchman’s current teammate, Sergio Perez, who the 26-year-old has been dominating.
Since Red Bull sees Perez as an ideal teammate for Verstappen, they are reportedly keen on extending the Mexican’s’ contract. While Red Bull do seem to have a capable driver in Perez who can carry on delivering for the team even next year, the same luxury is not available to Mercedes.
With the Silver Arrows losing Hamilton to Ferrari, they have a vacancy on their side. Despite the same, they do not consider Sainz as a viable option.
Mercedes is biding its time to bring in Kimi Antonelli
The reason why Mercedes wouldn’t want to sign Carlos Sainz revolves around their young prodigy Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Toto Wolff has been closely monitoring Antonelli’s progress. The 17-year-old Italian has been fast-tracked to Formula 2 in 2024, skipping Formula 3 altogether, due to his impressive performance in the junior categories.
Wolff sees Antonelli as the next big star and sees him having a similar career trajectory to that of Max Verstappen. Wolff even admitted that Antonelli was the reason why Hamilton was not given a long-term contract extension in 2023 because they did not want to miss out on the Italian like they did with Verstappen back in 2015.
| According to what Corriere dello Sport learned, Kimi Antonelli’s will get the second Mercedes for 2025.
It was precisely Kimi Antonelli’s private tests that convinced Mercedes management for his contract for 2025.
Toto Wolff doesn’t want to let Antonelli escape just like… pic.twitter.com/JTMpOg7dCj
— F1_MercHub (@F1MercHub) May 28, 2024
Therefore, even if Mercedes were to loan Antonelli to their customer team, Williams, they want him back in their side as soon as possible. This is where the problem with Sainz lies.
Sainz is looking for a long-term deal, which doesn’t align with Mercedes’ plans. They don’t want to block Antonelli’s path to the main team for more than a season or two. As a result, Sainz’s best options at the moment do seem to be a move to Williams or Sauber.
