How Verstappen could get Sainz into trouble
“Unfortunately it’s not something that depends on me, I have to wait and see what decisions will be made”. In the Miami paddock Carlos Sainz he was very honest in recognizing that he is not in a strong position on the driver market.
The Spaniard was unable to finalize the renewal with Ferrari in light of Lewis Hamilton’s arrival in Maranello, and the most logical hypothesis, that is to take over from the seven-time world champion in Mercedes, is made more complicated than expected because Sainz is not the priority of team principal Toto Wolff, who has two dreams on the horizon with a view to 2026. The first is more concrete: Andrea Kimi Antonelli he is a Mercedes driver and when he proves ready he will be able to be a starting driver for the three-pointed star. In unsuspecting times, Wolff has protected the Bolognese talent since his karting days so as not to repeat the mistake he made when he saw Max Verstappen slip out of his hands as a result of Helmut Marko’s dramatic coup which he offered to the Verstappens (father and son) F1 immediately as a minor, a wild card that Mercedes and Ferrari could not equalize.
According to what was reported by the German newspaper F1-insider.comin fact, Mercedes has indeed presented an offer to Sainz, but the contract would be annual precisely to keep the doors open to a possible escape of Verstappen from Red Bull without forgetting the possible growth of Antonelli (Russell’s contract expires in 2025 so a Verstappen-Antonelli pairing in 2026 cannot be ruled out a priori). Audi awaits a definitive response from Sainz by Monaco before turning to potential plan-Bs like one of the drivers currently working for Alpine, namely Esteban Ocon or Pierre Gasly. Accepting Mercedes’ annual contract could therefore mean that Sainz finds himself back on the market around 2026, but at that point without the possibility of joining Audi. The annual contract in Mercedes or the ‘career’ contract (certainly from an economic point of view) in Audi are the options on the table for the Spanish driver, who cannot hope for Red Bull, which still has the renewal of Sergio Perez although the Mexican’s Miami weekend wasn’t the best.
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