Red Bull address Sainz rumours and Verstappen’s involvement in the deal

Ricciardo’s move to Renault has kind of shaken up the driver market, with the domino effect just getting ready to kick in.

Alonso is now the probably the biggest factor in the driver market, with his decision set to trigger a lot of moves.

Red Bull will quickly need to find their ‘Ricciardo fix’, because Sainz’s Red Bull contract runs out in September, and they’ll need to make their decision on him pretty soon.

A few days back, reports in the Marca suggested that Verstappen had actually vetoed a move for Sainz, as the duo had a tense relationship at Toro Rosso in 2015 and in the early part of 2016.

However, all those rumours have been squashed by Helmut Marko, who has confirmed that all the talk about Verstappen vetoing Sainz’s move is ‘bullsh*t’.

“Daniel called me on Thursday to inform me about the decision to leave the team at the end of the season. He spent most of his career at Red Bull and told me he wanted a change.

“Now we will have to think about who will be Max’s teammate. The rumours that point to the veto of Verstappen of Sainz, are bullshit. Red Bull is the only one that decides on its driver pairing,” a straight faced Marko said.

According to the rumour, the vacant Red Bull seat is going to be a straight toss up between Sainz and Gasly.

Franz Tost believes that Sainz and Verstappen have the same pace.

“Carlos has a speed similar or equal to Max.” Tost said.

Who do you think will partner Max at Red Bull next year? Will Red Bull risk another ‘no no.1 driver situation’?