Carlos Sainz is certain that he would have worked well alongside Max Verstappen as his team-mate in Formula 1 amid Red Bull’s decision not to reunite them in 2025.
Red Bull passed up on the chance to sign Sainz when it was announced prior to the season beginning that he would lose his Ferrari drive to Lewis Hamilton next term.
Despite rumours that it was reconsidering that stance amid Sergio Perez’s continued woes, Red Bull boss Christian Horner has denied that the team is courting Sainz.
Red Bull’s reluctance to obtain Sainz is believed to be related to the acrimonious atmosphere that ensued when he and Verstappen were paired together back in 2015.
The two drivers clashed several times at Toro Rosso (now RB) until Red Bull elected to promote Verstappen to the senior setup four races into his sophomore season.
However, Sainz has argued the acknowledgement that their intra-team fight was a shootout to earn a Red Bull seat prompted the tension that emerged between them.
“I think I would get on well with him,” Sainz told Auto Motor und Sport. “We were 16 and 19 years old back then. We’ve matured a lot since then.
“At Toro Rosso, they put you in a team and say: fight each other, then we’ll see who’s the best and who gets promoted to Red Bull!
“That’s the reason why Toro Rosso exists. You don’t drive there together for the team classification, otherwise the behaviour of the two drivers would change completely.
“You can see it with Charles [Leclerc] and Lando [Norris], my last two team-mates – there were never any problems.
“So if my relationship with Max was the reason why I didn’t end up there, then I would say that there would have been no problems.
“If the decision depended solely on that, then it would simply be wrong. But I’ve already told them that.”
Sainz explains rationale behind Williams move
Red Bull opting to retain Perez and Mercedes selecting Andrea Kimi Antonelli to replace Hamilton meant that Sainz was consigned to a move down the pecking order.
The Spaniard was in high demand, though, as he turned down Alpine and the Audi-owned Sauber team’s advances to sign a multi-term deal with a rebuilding Williams.
Sainz has explained that the desire to choose a venture that he thinks will be competitive in the short and long term inspired him to commit to the Grove-based squad.
“It was not an easy decision,” he admitted. “Up until the day I signed, there were several good options.
“In the end, I had to follow my instincts. I have the utmost respect for the Audi brand.
“My father has told me a thousand times how good they will be. He is 100 per cent sure that Audi will be strong in the future.
“Although I wanted to help build something up, I also wanted to achieve good results in the short term.
“In my opinion, Williams was the best option. I still stand by this decision. Time will tell whether I was right.
“My gut feeling told me that this project with James Vowles was the best solution in the short and medium term.”
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