Sainz and his management have initiated discussions with all F1 teams who have an opening for next season when he will be replaced at Ferrari by Lewis Hamilton.
Until Fernando Alonso renewed his contract with Aston Martin last week, Sainz was evaluating possible options at eight teams, as previously only Ferrari and McLaren had their 2025 lineups locked.
This selection is marked by the possibility of Sainz joining Red Bull to replace Sergio Perez or if Max Verstappen makes a shock choice to leave F1’s current top team following the ongoing management war at Red Bull and the Christian scandal Horner.
Red Bull, through Marko, was publicly courting the Sainz camp at Suzuka last time out and Marko also claimed that “Audi is putting pressure” on the 2025 driver market.
This follows a long-standing understanding that Audi was considering signing Sainz ahead of its entry into F1 in 2026 with the Sauber takeover, as the 29-year-old already had links to the manufacturer through his father’s outings in Dakar in its RS Q e. -tron machines since 2022, including a victory in the 2024 event.
But ahead of the return of the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend, Marko added another intriguing element to the most high-profile confirmed driver contract saga for 2025 so far at the start of this silly season.
In an interview with Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung, Marko said of Sainz: “We are talking to him, he is having his best season in F1, but he has a very lucrative offer from Audi which we cannot match or beat. “
Liam Lawson, Reserve Driver, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team, with Helmut Marko, Consultant, Red Bull Racing, Peter Bayer, CEO, RB F1 Team
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images
“But we know him from the Toro Rosso days, even back then he was driving with Max [in 2015 and early 2016].
“But it really hurt him at the time when we supported Verstappen at Red Bull and not him.”
The last line refers to Red Bull quickly promoting Verstappen to its senior team in early 2016, with Sainz then leaving the Red Bull fold for Renault at the end of the 2017 campaign – something the now Ferrari driver insisted on .
Elsewhere in the interview, Marko revealed that Verstappen’s public support during the various twists and turns of Red Bull’s management war at the start of 2024 had been “a very big sign of loyalty” that he “absolutely does not take for granted.” acquired, especially these days. And age.”
Marko also sought to clarify recent rumors regarding the driver lineup at RB, given Daniel Ricciardo’s poor start to the campaign and his successful 2023 replacement, Liam Lawson, still without a full-time F1 driver.
Regarding reports of a possible mid-season Ricciardo/Lawson swap that have emerged in the New Zealand and Italian press in recent weeks, Marko said: “I really don’t understand where these things come from” because “everything was clarified and fixed with the [Red Bull] shareholders”.
“With Liam Lawson as our reserve driver, we obviously have a strong driver in the team who is contractually allowed to drive for another team if he does not get a cockpit with us in 2025,” he continued .
“In this regard, it would of course be exciting for us if we could see it in Formula 1 this year to get an even clearer picture.
“But it’s a complex issue, so we’ll have to see how things develop.”
Sainz and his management have initiated discussions with all F1 teams who have an opening for next season when he will be replaced at Ferrari by Lewis Hamilton.
Until Fernando Alonso renewed his contract with Aston Martin last week, Sainz was evaluating possible options at eight teams, as previously only Ferrari and McLaren had their 2025 lineups locked.
This selection is marked by the possibility of Sainz joining Red Bull to replace Sergio Perez or if Max Verstappen makes a shock choice to leave F1’s current top team following the ongoing management war at Red Bull and the Christian scandal Horner.
Red Bull, through Marko, was publicly courting the Sainz camp at Suzuka last time out and Marko also claimed that “Audi is putting pressure” on the 2025 driver market.
This follows a long-standing understanding that Audi was considering signing Sainz ahead of its entry into F1 in 2026 with the Sauber takeover, as the 29-year-old already had links to the manufacturer through his father’s outings in Dakar in its RS Q e. -tron machines since 2022, including a victory in the 2024 event.
But ahead of the return of the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend, Marko added another intriguing element to the most high-profile confirmed driver contract saga for 2025 so far at the start of this silly season.
In an interview with Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung, Marko said of Sainz: “We are talking to him, he is having his best season in F1, but he has a very lucrative offer from Audi which we cannot match or beat. “
Liam Lawson, Reserve Driver, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team, with Helmut Marko, Consultant, Red Bull Racing, Peter Bayer, CEO, RB F1 Team
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images
“But we know him from the Toro Rosso days, even back then he was driving with Max [in 2015 and early 2016].
“But it really hurt him at the time when we supported Verstappen at Red Bull and not him.”
The last line refers to Red Bull quickly promoting Verstappen to its senior team in early 2016, with Sainz then leaving the Red Bull fold for Renault at the end of the 2017 campaign – something the now Ferrari driver insisted on .
Elsewhere in the interview, Marko revealed that Verstappen’s public support during the various twists and turns of Red Bull’s management war at the start of 2024 had been “a very big sign of loyalty” that he “absolutely does not take for granted.” acquired, especially these days. And age.”
Marko also sought to clarify recent rumors regarding the driver lineup at RB, given Daniel Ricciardo’s poor start to the campaign and his successful 2023 replacement, Liam Lawson, still without a full-time F1 driver.
Regarding reports of a possible mid-season Ricciardo/Lawson swap that have emerged in the New Zealand and Italian press in recent weeks, Marko said: “I really don’t understand where these things come from” because “everything was clarified and fixed with the [Red Bull] shareholders”.
“With Liam Lawson as our reserve driver, we obviously have a strong driver in the team who is contractually allowed to drive for another team if he does not get a cockpit with us in 2025,” he continued .
“In this regard, it would of course be exciting for us if we could see it in Formula 1 this year to get an even clearer picture.
“But it’s a complex issue, so we’ll have to see how things develop.”