Sainz Says There 'Would Have Been No Problems' Between Him And Verstappen In Red Bull
F1Thursday, 14 November 2024 at 14:31
Carlos Sainz Jr stated that his relationship with Max Verstappen should not have been the main reason why Red Bull Racing wouldn't take him.
Shortly before the start of the 2024 season, Carlos Sainz learned he would no longer be a Ferrari driver after 2024. Now, he has already signed a multi-year deal with Williams Racing, but at one point, he was also a very hot candidate for the Red Bull Racing seat next to Max Verstappen.
Verstappen's teammate, Sergio Perez, has not been able to deliver the results that the team from Milton Keynes needs, and there has been a lot of speculation about his potential replacement already since before the summer break.
While many pundits and former F1 drivers agree that Sainz would have been a great option, it has also been suggested that the Austrian F1 team didn't choose him in the end due to his tense relationship with Verstappen from the time they raced together in Toro Rosso (now known as RB).
The Spaniard and the triple Word Champion drove for the same F1 team in 2015 and the first four races of 2016 before Verstappen got promoted to the Red Bull Racing F1 team.
While Sainz didn't try to argue that the relationship was very tense, he pointed out that it was a very different period and circumstances in Toro Rosse. He told Auto Motor und Sport:
"I think I could get on well with him. We were 16 and 19 at the time. We've grown up a lot since then."
"At Toro Rosso, they put you in a team and say: fight with each other, then we'll see who is the best and who gets promoted to Red Bull! That's why Toro Rosso exists."
"You don't drive there together for the constructors' championship, otherwise the behaviour of the two drivers would change completely. There were never any problems."
The 30-year-old driver doesn't know whether what happened at Toro Rosso had an influence on the decision at Red Bull but says it would be wrong if it did.
"So if my relationship with Max was the reason why I didn't end up there [at Red Bull], I would say there would have been no problems."
"If the decision depended only on that, then it would just be wrong. But I've already told them that."
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