PIT + PADDOCK Red Bul l won’t match ‘lucrative’ Sainz Audi offer FORMULA 1 Fernando Alonso’s contract renewal at Aston Martin has appeared
IMAGES
/MOTORSPORT
SUTTON
to kick Formula 1’s silly season into another gear, with the focus now shifting to fellow Spaniard Carlos Sainz.
Aston Martin could have been a possible avenue for the on-the-move Ferrari star. But with Alonso staying put, that means the options are narrowing for him. Sainz is understood to have had a firm offer from Audi on the table for some time, but has also been exploring other options as Red Bull mulls over whether to renew Sergio Perez’s expiring deal or make a change in the seat alongside Max Verstappen.
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko confirmed that the squad has been holding talks with Sainz regarding a possible return to its fold, but revealed that Audi has made a sizeable offer for his services. “We’re talking to him, he’s having his strongest season in F1, but he has a very lucrative offer from Audi that we can’t match or beat,” Marko told the Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung. “We know him from the Toro Rosso days, even back then he drove with Max [in 2015 and early 2016]. But it really hurt him back then when we backed Verstappen at Red Bull and not him.”
Marko is referring to Red Bull’s decision to promote Verstappen to the main team rather than Sainz, who then left for Renault in 2017. Both drivers’ families also endured strained relations at Toro Rosso that impacted the team’s atmosphere.
Perez’s improved displays in 2024, with three runner-up spots to Verstappen across the first five races, have improved the Mexican’s chances of staying on board. Team boss Christian Horner noted that the 34-year-old seems “more relaxed” this season now that he is no longer focused on Verstappen’s performances as opposed to his futile entertaining of a title bid at the start of 2023.
With RB’s Daniel Ricciardo enduring a difficult start to 2024 and team-mate Yuki Tsunoda seemingly not on Horner’s radar, the momentum has started shifting back towards Perez staying put. But while Perez has hinted at a quick resolution, Horner said that the team won’t be rushed into a decision on its 2025 driver line-up.
“Not very [close], I’m afraid,” he said at last weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix. “It’s incredible that we’re at race five and there’s so much talk already about drivers for next year. We’re in a situation where we’re very happy with our two drivers, but we don’t need to make a final decision about the line-up until much later in the year. Checo has been driving exceptionally well so far this season.
No repeat of Toro Rosso 2015 fight between Sainz and Verstappen?
IMAGES
/MOTORSPORT
BLOXHAM
S
Of course, he would like to make an announcement tomorrow, when we as a team aren’t in a particular rush. We just want to make sure that the level of consistency that Checo started with this season maintains. And in due course, we’ll evaluate those options.”
While Red Bull’s behind-the-scenes power struggles appear to be locked into a holding pattern for now, Mercedes chief Toto Wolff still seems to entertain the idea of Verstappen leaving the squad as a result, and remains first in line to snap up the Dutchman. And while Wolff admitted that Verstappen leaving Red Bull for the underperforming Mercedes in 2025 would not make much sense, the Austrian felt that the Silver Arrows would become a much more attractive proposition for the 2026 regulations shift.
“If I was Max, I would stay at Red Bull in 2025,” Wolff conceded. “But I am not Max. It is the quickest car, but there are other factors. He is the one that is going to trigger more dominoes to fall afterwards. Everybody is waiting on what he is going to do.”
Horner appeared bemused when told that Wolff was continuing to court Verstappen, who has a contract until 2028 but is understood to have certain exit clauses if key members of the team leave, including Marko. “I don’t think Toto’s problems are his drivers,” Horner snapped back. “He’s probably got other elements that he needs to be focusing on rather than focusing on drivers that are unavailable. Have you spoken to Max about this? Because if you speak to Max, it’s not about pieces of paper at the end of the day. We know that he has a contract to the end of 2028. It’s about how he feels in the team, the relationship he has in the team and the way he’s performing.” FILIP CLEEREN
4 AUTOSPORT.COM 25 APRIL 2024
