McLaren’s Lando Norris has had his say on the Formula future of former team-mate and friend Carlos Sainz, saying that the Spaniard should have been signed by Red Bull Racing ahead of Williams.
Sainz’s Formula 1 future had been the topic of debate for months leading up to his multi-year contract announcement with Williams on Monday.
Still, Norris, who partner Sainz at McLaren in 2019 and ’20, believes that the Spaniard has been overlooked by reigning champions Red Bull.
Labelling Sainz as “one of the best,” Norris made a case that the Spaniard should be donning Red Bull colours next season with the Milton Keynes-based outfit instead electing to extend Sergio Perez’s contract beyond this season.
“I mean I don’t know what their plans are, honestly, the easy one is just to say Red Bull,” Norris told Sky Sports F1‘s Craig Slater.
“[Sainz] should have gone there in my eyes.
“Obviously, I’m biased, I know Carlos more than I know Checo [Perez] and that kind of thing but Carlos deserves a lot he’s one of the best drivers in Formula 1, he’s proven that countless times and I’m a good friend of his, you know.”
Norris did, however, acknowledge that Sainz moving to Williams, a team currently sitting ninth in the Constructors’ standings is a good move for the Spaniard as he can help move the Grove-based squad forward.
“I’m happy for him that he’s still in Formula 1, I’m still happy that he got a drive and that he can try and bring Williams back up,” the McLaren driver explained.
“Him partnering Alex [Albon] will be good for Formula 1 at the same time so that’s a good thing.
“But I’m sure a lot of people would love to say that [Sainz] should have gone to Red Bull potentially, but that’s not my decision to make.”
Perez’s future looked uncertain at Red Bull amid a recent slump in form for the Mexican, but his employers have handed him a reprieve to turn things around post-summer break.
Still, should Perez not recapture the form that has seen him win multiple GPs in Red Bull colours, it could cost the team first place in the Constructors’ standings to McLaren, sitting just 42 points behind.
“Yeah it’s a tricky one, you know,” acknowledged McLaren CEO Zak Brown.
“[Red Bull] have found themselves in a situation where they’ve got two teams and young driver programmes and they’ve kind of found themselves in a situation where they have one driver leading the championship and another that’s seventh.
“[Perez] is a great racing driver who has won races.
“We all know he is very capable of winning at any point but seems to be in a bit of issue at the moment.
“I don’t know all that is going on there [at Red Bull] but that’s for them to sort out.
“I’m happy I don’t have driver challenges.”
Mercedes would also have been a good fit for Sainz. Antonelli at Williams would make more sense for the rookie years