Carlos Sainz was one of the most affected parties by Lewis Hamilton moving to Ferrari in 2025. After the news became official, Sainz announced his departure from Ferrari at the end of 2024 on his social media. He also stated that details about his future move will soon be revealed. While he has several teams as options, one possibility is going back to Red Bull and partnering with his former teammate, Max Verstappen. The duo were previously teammates in 2015 in their maiden season at Toro Rosso. However, there is a supposed beef between their families that may hinder this move.
Sainz taking Sergio Perez’s seat is quite possible, given the Mexican driver’s struggles lately and his contract expiring in 2024. Although there are arguments that the 29-year-old would not want to be teammates with Verstappen because of their history.
Both drivers have motorsport veteran fathers. Jos Verstappen was a former F1 driver and also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz Sr. is a two-time rally world champion. However, Sainz Sr. had more of an image and legacy to contend with than Jos, as the 52-year-old Dutchman did not achieve much success in F1.
Besides this, even Helmut Marko labeled the atmosphere between the Toro Rosso teammates as “toxic”. As Max Verstappen was beating the #55 driver, it clearly made Red Bull hype the 26-year-old Dutchman more. As a result, Marko claimed that Carlos Sainz felt “overlooked”.
Sainz only scored 18 points in comparison to Max Verstappen‘s 49 in the 2015 season. The three-time champion had some stellar performance in his debut year with some awesome drives, including a P4 finish at COTA. Naturally, as Verstappen moved up to Red Bull, Sainz had to stay at the Faenza team before moving out of the family completely.
Does Carlos Sainz still have any hard feelings towards Max Verstappen and Red Bull?
Carlos Sainz feels his relationship with Max Verstappen has been an enigma of the paddock. While they have tussled with each other on track throughout their career, off track there is no animosity as such. He spoke on the Beyond the Grid podcast to provide clarity on what were his feelings towards the Dutchman in 2018.
Sainz stated, “Everyone thinks me and Max hate each other, and that’s absolutely not the case.” The Spaniard also mentioned that in their only year of being teammates, they were having “fun” off-track.
Naturally, being from the same batch at the Red Bull academy, both were competitive with each other on track. But that was it about their tension, which is normal among F1 drivers.
The Spaniard dispelled this notion of dislike between him and Verstappen, while also praising the 26-year-old for his talent. Sainz knew back then that he was up against a guy with a lot of talent. After all these years, they have shared a great camaraderie. Does this mean Sainz can look to return as Verstappen’s teammate, this time on the main team?
According to Marca, Red Bull is not an option at the moment for the #55 driver. The report suggests that Sainz moved away from the Red Bull setup to avoid being Verstappen’s wingman. Thus, he would not want to pursue that option again, given the Dutchman is in some impeccable form.
This argument makes sense that the Spaniard may feel it tough to match and beat Verstappen in a team now centered around him. However, Sainz is not completely unaware of Red Bull’s team culture like Lando Norris or Charles Leclerc might have been.
Still, Marca suggests that when Sainz moved out to go Renault and then McLaren, he aimed to exit the Red Bull sphere of influence. That he certainly did successfully with his Ferrari stint. However, will the 29-year-old trust himself and Red Bull again to take a bet on driving beside his former Toro Rosso teammate? Only time will tell.
