Carlos Sainz has expressed that Red Bull’s unwillingness to sign him to race alongside Max Verstappen in Formula 1 for 2025 was a call that he “doesn’t understand”.
Red Bull passed up on the chance to snap up Sainz when it was announced prior to the 2024 season starting that he would lose his spot at Ferrari to Lewis Hamilton.
Despite Sainz being available on the market when Sergio Perez’s results endured a sudden nosedive, Red Bull opted to give the Mexican a contract renewal last June.
Ex-Red Bull boss Christian Horner has since professed that the choice to extend Perez was a mistake as he proceeded to amass 45 points across the next 16 rounds.
Regardless, Red Bull’s decision to snub his services meant that Sainz, who secured two victories in his last season with Ferrari, agreed a multi-year deal with Williams.
And while he is committed to the Grove-based squad’s rebuild, the Spaniard remains perplexed by Red Bull’s reluctance to reunite him and Verstappen as team-mates.
“The only thing I can say is I genuinely get on well with Max,” Sainz told the High Performance podcast. “This is what people don’t see from the outside.
“Like, we had a rivalry on our first year in Formula 1 in Toro Rosso, but it was a relatively healthy rivalry in terms of him and me, the way we used to go about racing.
“And now we get on really well. So, if that’s the reason I don’t understand why they wouldn’t want me next to Max, because I think we would actually be a very strong pairing in Formula 1.”
Sainz certain he could have thrived at Red Bull
The second Red Bull seat has continued to be labelled a poisoned chalice as Yuki Tsunoda has struggled since replacing Liam Lawson three races into the campaign.
However, Sainz, who out-qualified Verstappen 10-8 in their sole season as team-mates in 2015, believes he would have avoided the troubles that others have endured.
“I think everyone’s having a really tough time being Max’s team-mate,” Sainz said. “I can only say that when I was Max’s team-mate, I didn’t have this tough time.
“I was obviously incredibly surprised with how quick he was, with how he’s an insane driver.
“I mean, he’s going to go out to be one of the best ever in history, if he’s not already one.
“But that first year together, since then, has given me the confidence to know I can be up against anyone.”
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