Sainz Receives 2025 Contract Advice From Brundle Amid Pressure From Audi

Wednesday, 10 April 2024 at 22:45

Former F1 driver Martin Brundle shared his advice for Carlos Sainz regarding the current 2025 contract negotiations.

Sainz has been connected to a potential move to Audi (currently Suaber-Kick) ever since it was announced Ferrari would not prolong his contract.

His father has a strong connection to the German manufacturing brand, and Audi will need an experienced, reliable driver once they enter the Formula 1 development race.

The problem for the 29-year-old that Martin Brundle outlined is that he wants to compete for Championships while he's in his prime, and Audi will most likely not be able to offer him a title-contending car in 2026 or 2027. The former F1 driver told Sky Sports:

"The problem Team Sainz have is that Sauber, let's call them Audi going forward, are putting him under pressure to do a long-term deal, which means he will then be at Sauber next year treading water, and then hanging all of his chances on how quickly Audi can get their team and their power unit together and become competitive. And that's no small task."

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The problem is that while Audi is putting pressure on the 29-year-old, the three top teams that are in search of drivers for the next season (Mercedes, Red Bul, and Aston Martin) are trying to delay their decision as much as possible.

"So he could actually go off and have a really serious three, even four seasons with another team and still join Audi when they're ripe and ready to go."

"But they’re putting him under pressure to sign and I don’t see the other three teams ready to give into that pressure and sign Sainz."

During the race weekend in Japan, the Mercedes team principal said he expects a "big name" driver to sign with some team within the upcoming week.

It is very likely that Sainz was the driver he was talking about. However, Brundle advises the Spaniard to delay his decision if possible.

"My advice to Carlos and his dad would be things happen very quickly in this business. Two weeks is a very long time in Formula One and just keep your options open."