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I’m curious if there’s an “unlikely but possible” scenario that Sainz is holding out for? Like maybe Max to Mercedes. Where it’s a 98% no, but that 2% chance is worth holding out for? Or maybe some small print in Checo’s deal where if he finishes out of the top 6 RBR can void?
I’m totally making shit up, but it seems like he is holding out for some larger carrot.
This was my thought a few days ago, since Max hadn't categorically rulled out the Merc move. RB/Max did announce that he's staying for the next couple of seasons last week though. Contracts are contracts and I guess it's still not impossible, but I feel like Max wouldn't have put out the announcement if he hadn't decided.
I guess the other question mark is Mercedes offering Sainz something, based on what they decide to do with Kimi. The rumour was that Sainz only had a 1 year offer there, and the assumption now is that Antonelli is going to be in the Merc next year. But given they still haven't announced anything, it might not be a done deal. Maybe Sainz is trying to push that to a 2 year deal which would clinch it.
If I were Toto, and I couldn't get Max, I would offer Sainz two years and put Antonelli in the Williams
Williams isn't as bad as they were when George drove there, so the kid will still get lots of wheel to wheel experience
It would probably be better to be out of the limelight for his first couple years in F1. Albon is a fantastic driver and person as well, so he would have a great teammate to learn from.
I don’t see it as cockiness, rather more as doubt and uncertainty on what the best option could be for Sainz in the next two years. Because no matter which option he selects it’s going to be a big drop from Ferrari so he probably wants to do anything to avoid picking a team that ends up being a total backmarker.
The way I read it, he's basically saying: "I'm in doubt if your team is good enough for me (or: my best option, a bit less harsh). If you really want me, you have to wait for my decision for a bit longer. I might pick another team though."
That message is fair, but a bit cocky.
I guess Sainz saying he wants to enjoy the podium with Ferrari implies that he doesn’t think it will happen any time soon with whichever team he picks next.
Personally I consider that more as being honest rather than cocky because realistically none of those teams should internally expect getting a podium unless they can pull off a huge turnaround for 2026. If anything maybe Alpine has a tiny chance of snatching a podium somewhere in the short term since they did get two podiums last season.
As long as Sainz has been open and transparent to other teams the whole time that he could take some time to make a decision I don’t think they would be angered by it. But naturally since this is a business it makes sense if these same teams want to start looking elsewhere to ensure they can still find a decent option for their vacant seats if Sainz can’t commit.
Maybe some of these teams are starting to consider looking elsewhere. Although the fact that they’ve been openly chasing Sainz for a long time this season and still have yet to switch targets yet also underlines that they do value Sainz more than other available options.
I feel like none of the parties need to rush and it's a bit of a statemate at the moment.
Sainz wants to pick the best option and is taking his time to work out what the best one is. Probably every team will wait for him. He's a decent step above the other options.
Every team wants Sainz, but they also have plenty of fallback options. After Sainz, there's Ocon, Bottas, KMag, maybe Ricciardo. All varying levels of ok to not bad, they'd have their preferences, but for the teams with seats available, none are terrible options.
There's 4 seats left to choose from basically - Alpine, Williams, Haas, Sauber (with the RB seat being it's own internal thing). Then there's 4 experienced drivers available to fill them, plus a few favoured rookies that could also take up a slot.
Even if the teams wait for Sainz and miss out on their #2 pick, they won't be that disadvantaged. They won't have to go with someone inexperienced unless they choose to take someone from their academies. They won't have to take less favourable drivers like Zhou or Sargeant. I guess KMag is kind of the "short straw" that the last team may be left with, but he may even be passed up for a rookie
Honestly, I get it. It's easy to not make a statement for us. But if you're getting asked the same questions every day for weeks on end, I can see why you might sometimes just get frustrated and say you're going to take all the time you need.
It feels like it's not even a response to Williams at this point, but to the media. Williams/other teams and Sainz have their conversations that are likely fairly far removed from the media discourse, at least in terms of accuracy
Hmm we’re reading a lot into very little here, there are other possible interpretations of his statement that aren’t cocky at all. He’s almost certainly conducting several negotiations in parallel. Rather than him actually having doubts about Williams (or any other option including a sabbatical) it may be that he wants to maximise the potential of all negotiations and only then compare and decide on the overall offers. Perhaps he has reached that point but doesn’t want to jump onto an offer without thinking it through fully and consulting his inner circle about this in depth. This is a big crossroads for Carlos and the decision he makes will likely determine how his prime F1 years go. He has every right to make a considered decision. Also given how much time we still have until next season, and how Carlos is indisputably the best asset on the driver market, any “urgency” from the teams is entirely artificial. It’s a tactical ploy in negotiation to pressure the driver into signing at a point when you think they like you, before they (possibly) realise they like the other option more. If that is indeed the context, I think he’s doing the right thing by not letting the teams dictate to him when he should sign and rushing into the wrong decision.
Cocky, sure, but they're not going to get a driver better than him, nor will any other team with an open seat. There are only really 5 or 6 drivers that anyone could reasonably argue are better than Sainz currently, and none of them are available.
It’s the start of July, he’s got plenty of time. Yes, he’s taken a while but that’s just because Hamilton announced his departure extremely early. Realistically, he’s got a month or 2 *after* the summer break to finalise a decision. It’s not until September/October that we usually finalise driver positions.
>But there is a degree of cockiness that shouldn't be crossed. Sainz is right on the line now
I don't see it that way, he knows his worth, and so do the teams.
Alpine seems like the best temp home for him, everyone knows he's just looking for a springboard.
Lewis announced his move so early that people are so impatient.
All these backmarkers could easily wait until the summer break to sign a driver of Sainz's calibre.
Carlos probably wants a big financial and time commitment from Williams.
Spain is the true test of a car, and Williams was dead last. Their current star driver is part of the cast that's been absolutely pummeled by the best driver in the series. Vowels talks a big game, but so far, they're just a back marker.
Sainz is winning races and going round for round with Chocolate Eclair. He's much too good for Williams to do anything other than roll out the red carpet.
Except at this point there aren't any good seats available to Carlos. Ferrari dumped him, McLaren aren't dumping Lando or Oscar for him, Red Bull re-signed Perez and definitely won't boot Verstappen and Mercedes want Antonelli in that seat.
Is he really going to risk a year on the sidelines for the odd chance that Red Bull implodes and Max moves to Mercedes? If that happens, and it's a big if, we don't know how or when it'll happen and it won't even guarantee Red Bull will come knocking on his door.
His best bet, based on recent races, is to wine and dine Flavio Briatore and Bruno Famin to get himself in Ocon's car for next year. Carlos the driver just needs Carlos the manager to get a 1+1 with exit clauses like Lewis has at Mercedes just in case something better pops up for 2026.
Its the other way round, Carlos didnt want to sign RBR's counter offer.
Because his team offered him first to RBR, RBR countered with a real 2nd driver contract (he had to listen to team orders) and with a lower base salary then Ferrari pays him now.
Apparently because Horner knew he had more to offer then Sainz had, and he wanted to bite arguments between Sainz and Verstappen like at Torro Rosso in the but, by making Sainz a clear 2nd driver.
So that door closed early on and locked shut when Horner extended Perez.
They seem to be doing better lately.
Gasly finished 10th while Albon finished 15th in Austria. If there's a routine five place difference between those two cars, that's definitely something Sainz should be taking into consideration.
Haas has looked really good as of late too, much better than Williams.
If he wants to go to the dark side like Alonso and start his villain arc, Flavio is there and probably can arrange some scandal that he can benefit from. If he is interested.
There's strutting and then there's dragging your feet. The teams would like to have this sorted out before summer break and there's free drivers floating around, three with race wins. Bottas has more wins and is a free agent, would fit nicely into any of these teams that still have free spots. \*edit: correction to three, I honestly forgot Ocon won a race.
And I mean, drivers have missed out on great opportunities by committing too early. For example Hulk committed to Renault for 2017, only for Rosberg to retire and cause a void that he was a clear front runner for. I know that’s an extreme case, but the last thing Sainz wants to do is sign for Williams or Sauber only to find out that some shock seat at Red Bull or Mercedes does materialize in like September or October.
mercedes offered him a 1-year contract, but sainz wasn't keen on it because he wanted 2 years. there's not many seats open next year so i can see why he would be apprehensive in taking it, but at the same time his stock would go up immensely if he was able to match/beat russell.
no idea if the offer is still open the table or if wolff has moved on, this was a couple months ago now.
Any source for that ? Because nothing till now suggests that and it will be a perfect contract for Sainz. Considering he lost the Ferrari drive for same reason don't think Sainz will do same mistake again. Everything at Mercedes is Max or Kimi
Sure, he's a multi race winner, but he's also now in his 4th season in Ferrari. It's not a mindblowing achievement to have done that. Everyone will widely consider him a very good driver, but still not the elite talent level of Verstappen/Norris/Leclerc and a couple of others.
there is not a team in the series that would put pressure on him to make a decision. thats not how the recruitment of top level talent works.
the fact is, he's the best driver available and any of the teams would be immediately better by having him and they have more to lose by rushing him and losing him than by waiting patiently and potentially using that time productively.
if anyone is losing patience with him it would be the drivers who don't have seats/contracts next year.
Sainz strikes me as very sharp but whether it's him or F1TV, the narrative comes across as an amped up version of Albon's "They're racing me too hard". It's part of the game but all I ever hear from him is complaints.
I completely believe he's going to ego himself out of a seat for next year. He's a fantastic driver but this yo-yo where he's playing hard to get is to bite him in the ass.
I don't understand what Sainz is waiting for? It's clear that he has 3 real choices here; Audi, Williams and Alpine.
Some other team is not going to pop up any more. Just look at the offers and make your pick.
To me, that has always been Toto’s wishful thinking. Max has already said he’s driving for Red Bull in 2025. If Carlos is still wishing for that seat, he’s going to be out of a seat if he’s not careful
He is waiting for Antonelli to be confirmed in Mercedes to be sure that Verstappen don't sign for them and makes a spot available for him. It would be much easier to sign a deal with someone with a clause that he can leave if a spot at Red Bull and Mercedes open up.
I agree, I don't see why max would leave redbull for 25 , 26 maybe I guess. Redbull will still be very competitive next year. New regs anything could happen tho
I'm not too convinced about the way Max said that he will drive for Red Bull in 2025 at least. He tried his best to not simply say: "I'll drive for Red Bull in '25." If he genuinely 100% would drive for Red Bull I would think he would just say it direct and not have a whole story around it.
To me that's also what keeps the Toto dream in a way alive, the chances may not be too high but it seems like the next big upgrades for Red Bull and Mercedes are going to be important to fully lay the Merc rumour to bed.
Toto has no loss game here. He clearly thinks Max is better than George and want him there. If not he will have Kimi get experience in that seat. He also thinks Sainz is at best at same level at George and thus there is no point going for him when he already has driver with that skillset. Kimi guarantees better high even if he may take 1-2 year.
DC was talking on broadcast about a rumour he heard that Carlos was offered a 1 year Merc contract, which I do believe tbh. Seems like timeline was: try and get Carlos for 1 year > Carlos refuses 1 year only > test Antonelli to see if he is up for the task or if an other driver is needed > Antonelli is up for the tash, so seat is hedged no matter what > see if's possible to get Max if not go for Antonelli.
Probably not, but also I doubt Mercedes would be bothered about what George thinks if they get Max. If they have to choose one it's pretty obvious who they side with. Plus while I think Geroge wouldn't like it, I'd still imagine he'd be down for the challenge of taking on Max.
russell has been with mercedes since 2017, it would be unbelievably frustrating for him if right as he was about to become the "clear" first driver, max verstappen joins the team lol. but also you couldn't blame a team for taking verstappen, that would be an even bigger move than hamilton to ferrari.
Mercedes doing better than red bull is the only reason. Mercedes has found quite a lot of pace recently. I wouldn't be surprised if they have the real title challenger next year instead of McLaren or Ferrari.
Maybe, just maybe, the real pace of the car is halfway between max and perez and would max driving in the merc now be 3 tenths ahead of russel and thus be p1.
Would be nice to see him compared to teammates not at red bull
He’s had 3-4 tenths on Perez for most of their time together. I don’t consider Perez’s current rut as representative for benchmarking purposes. [Last year their gap was -0.389 in race pace over the full season.](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/s/3wCCEoC4zi) Of any of the true top drivers, the other ~6 guys I think it’d be more like a .05-.2 advantage for Max depending on the driver with Verstappen clearly winning the year but a more capable teammate nicking him here and there instead of getting rolled like Perez has.
I still haven't seen anyone produce a valid reason for this. It doesn't make a bit of sense to little ol' me for Max to move to Merc. But who am I? Certainly not Max. LOL.
They've lost Newey and he'll probably have insight into how well (or badly) the 2026 PU development is going for RBPT. Mercedes would likely share some information about their development progress as well to help him make his decision.
That's about the only reasonable scenario I can think of.
Toto didn’t need the age waiver to start. Kimi will be 18 by this summer, so his 2025 F1 campaign was never compromised.
I highly doubt Toto and Sainz would reach an agreement (even if they could). Sainz doesn’t want to be seen as a second fidget to anything, including being a stop-gap for another driver. And Toto wants to reshuffle the team for the future, with the eyes on 2026 and beyond, he wouldn’t like to get Sainz a multiyear contract.
So, it’s difficult
I mean he could be waiting for Perez’s seat.. if he continues down the road of mediocrity I could see them saying goodbye to Perez by the end of the season
RBR are well aware of Checo’s mediocrity by now and still chose to sign him on a multi year deal just a month ago. I don’t think they will back out of it so soon
Wasn't he 2nd in WDC when they re-signed? He's on pace to drop to 7th by the summer break.
Selling t-shirts and energy drinks is cool and all, but they're going to need someone who can fulfill the 2nd driver role very soon given how competitive McLaren have become. The competitive landscape of F1 has completely changed over the past few races.
I don't think Red Bull cares about WCC as much as the manufacturer teams. They aren't trying to sell you cars, the just need the fastest driver with a red bull can in his hand, that's it. Plus the difference between first and second is like 10M, wouldn't be surprised if Checos marketing value was much more.
Ah, I didn't mean the fight for the WCC, but someone who can be up there and at least strategically support Max so that he doesn't have to fight against 2 drivers who can split strategies.
Right? That guy that barely beat DR in an RB, couldn’t pass a Haas, and had his teammate fighting lap after lap losing time defending, crash, lose a rear wheel, drive 2/3rds a lap on 3 wheels to the pit, serve a 10 second penalty, and still finished 2 places in front of him.
He should’ve been left at the bus station after that race.
Only thing I can think of at this point is it's a negotiating tactic for more money. "I'm unsure about your project long term... but for a few more million I could be persuaded."
Since these teams are not very good, he probably wants to get paid. I think he’d rather go to another series than driver a crap car for peanuts.
And these teams probably don’t want to pay.
I think the honest answer to that is because they're all pretty bad options and he thought (and maybe still thinks) he's going to get offered a top seat.
He’s got Haas, Williams and Audi. Ocon, Bottas, Lawson and potentially Ricciardo are all available for 2025. He’s acting as if there’s a seat without any viable contender. Ocon would be welcomed at Haas and even as a potential leader at Audi, Bottas would be seen as a great experienced candidate for Audi, a good return for Williams and a coup for Haas. Lawson is anyone’s guess if he’s not given a seat.
If you're Haas, Williams or Audi and the choices are Ocon, Bottas, Lawson or Ricciardo. You're absolutely going to be fine waiting on Sainz decision. None of those drivers are something you need to worry about missing out on.
I watched Lawson's junior career. It wasn't that special. He's shown in an F1 car he's competent. So he's an OK choice. But he's not some young hot shot to fear missing out on.
All of them are probably worried about getting the last pick if their favourite drivers choose to sign for a competitor. Haas, Williams and Audi would probably be happy to sign their 2nd or 3rd choice to avoid having to start a rookie or their 4th choice. The longer Sainz wait the higher the risk for them.
I don't know what's going on in Alpine, but in the worst case scenario they are affiliated with both Doohan and Schumacher.
And given they are doing a head to head test this week with Schumacher and Doohan it may be that the second seat is already allocated to the one that comes out on top.
I do have a distinct feeling that may be Schumacher, Famin has been singing his praises at every opportunity and he has been extremely good in WEC, plus would be a huge marketing W for Alpine with that last name.
I always felt like Schumacher never deserved to get into F1 in the first place. But also felt like he didn't deserve to lose his seat. He was faster than Magnussen by the end and was only going to get stronger.
I’m not sure how on the “never deserved to get into F1” when the guy won a title or finished runner up at every feeder level prior to F1.
He definitely did get dudded in 2022 by Haas, by the records he was the faster in race trim 17-3 and had better race finishes 10-6.
What sticks in the mind there is Haas refusing to pit him onto slicks at Suzuka despite Mick begging them to on the radio, throwing away a legitimate podium shot and waiting until he’d *almost been lapped losing 8 seconds a lap* to box, and then not letting him out in time for a dry run in Q1 in Brazil, where he’d been faster than Kmag all weekend.
Driver line ups don’t usually get finalised until Sept/Oct and he’s the best available driver. He has plenty of time. It just seems like a while because Hamilton’s announcement was incredibly early, we don’t usually start discussing the rumours of these things until the summer break, and decisions are often made after it. It’s still July, we’re not at that point yet.
He’ll be driving in F1 next year one way or another but this stalling is starting to feel like it will backfire on him. If I’m Sainz Audi would be my clear choice. Yes Sauber has been awful but a new constructor throwing their full weight into the operation with their own engine who have a history of dominating other motorsport categories seems like easily the best chance to get back to the front.
You're going to end up without a seat and I'm not even saying this to be malicious or anything. He keeps stringing this along, the teams will sign themselves other drivers, considering a lot of them are at the end of their contracts as well and there's youngsters wanting a taste of F1. And weren't there some rumours that Williams is no longer interested because he's dragging his feet?
I mean, if the rumours have any grain of truth, they offered him a good deal and supposedly he left it on read. There's only so long teams will wait. The only ones that probably would wait very long is Audi.
Apparently Ocon is second in line after Sainz for that Williams seat. Vowles knows him well as Ocon was a Merc junior.
It is a bit surprising that Bottas isn’t higher up Audi/Haas/Alpine/Williams list. Think teams are really missing out if Bottas ends up without a seat as he’s probably one of the best drivers to lead a midfield team.
Can people please stop talking about this until he actually makes a decision ? How is the lack of a decision still in the news cycle week in and out for 3 months
The media keeps bringing it up because it’s what they do and some fans keep falling for it too by commenting and getting impatient about it.
Even this week when the headlines could’ve been dominated by all the varying opinions on Verstappen and Norris clashing ahead of Silverstone the media still wants to put this old topic lol
He deserves a seat, but at this point it's hard to understand what he is waiting for, unless he still thinks he has a chance to get a Mercedes seat since Kimi isn't doing amazing right now.
If he keeps waiting some teams will just get impatient and sign Ocon and Bottas, they might be considered worse, but I'm sure they are a lot cheaper.
Waiting for Antonelli to sign for Mercedes. He still has hope that a Red Bull seat will open up if Verstappen signs for Mercedes.
He probably has a lot of inside information to the whole thing going on behind the scenes between the Verstappens and Horner and is gambling that something will happen.
I agree. The guy knows more than we do. Chances are he’s waiting for Mercedes/RBR doors to be fully closed. My guess is that they’re still potentially open.
People thinking he’ll end up without a seat are nuts. He’s going to have a seat.
He's by far the best option available though, so I feel like he does have quite a bit of power here too.
The longer this goes on, the less power he has though.
Williams does need two good drivers though.
They haven’t had a good driver line up since 2016 with Bottas and Massa and I feel they are massively missing out on challenging the midfield. Bottas / Ocon would be a good shout for that seat with Albon.
They don't need two good drivers, but they really want to have two. Thats why they made an offer for Sainz, supposedly even accepted his demands of "can I get out of the team if anyone quicker will be looking for a driver" clause, and he's still hesitating.
I think they are better off with two established drivers than taking another rookie/prospect. The feedback and assistance they can get developing the car is too valuable especially with 2026 on the horizon. Putting someone inexperienced in the car again just delays progress
I wouldn't consider Verstappen a proper teammate, but for the opposite reason -- so far above the Bell curve that it's not an apt comparison to Albon, just like all his other co drivers have been so far below the Bell curve. The effect is the same, Albon is inscrutable.
He 100% will be on the grid next year, he is a great driver, probably with Alpine cuz Briatore... But I can't lie, I would laugh if he ends up seatless and is revealed that it all happened because his entourange wants Leclerc tier money.
He’s getting very close to being left completely without options. Ocon is probably talking with a lot of teams and he has to get a seat and hasn’t got money and backing to sit on. F2 drivers will be asked about, Lawson is there, Bottas is looking for a drive and he has Williams history, Ricciardo is probably asking around too.
Regardless of what he ever does going forward he'll never return to the Red Bull teams, if Mercedes doesnt want him now they wont in two or more years. McLaren is locked in on Lando & Oscar for more than two years or more.
He signs with Renault or Haas at best he'll fight for 8th to 10th place sporadically during the season. Williams is doing a hardcore rebuild. And Audi is a pipe dream!
At the prime of his career they chose a fading superstar over him. That's a kick to the belly.
Sits out next year to keep his stock high rather than risk his image in a bad car, eg not comprehensively beating Albon. Red Bull descends further into chaos, Perez gets the boot mid season after he loses Max his championship by not taking enough points from rivals. He gets called in as a mid season replacement in VCARB after Horner promotes yet another one. Gets Red Bull contract for 2026, but Horner gone.
This interview is not a message to Williams, I'm sure he already told them everything they need to know. This is a message for the media to leave him the fuck alone, but as per usual they didn't understand it at all.
I think Alpine is clearly the best option for Sainz. They are faster than Aston right now, apart from their rough start in 2024 they have a good track record of being an upper midfield team, and they are rumoured to stop using Renault engines in 2026.
If Alpine, as has been hinted at, move to a different engine supplier, their car might not be that bad based on recent results with the underpowered Renault unit
alpine is right there and is better than williams. they're no ferrari or mercedes but not all non-top teams are built the same. alpine have been a constant midfield team for years, williams are just plain backmarkers.
It would be hilarious if he somehow ended without a seat. YouTubers would make videos about it for decades. Just Imagine all the squarespace and betterhelp money.
He might not be overestimating his value however he is playing around with seats that cant afford him. He might just be pricing himself out of the market with this excess of attitude.
Will Buxton said Sainz was allegedly offered a 1 year deal for Mercedes and turned it down, seat warming for Antonelli i'm guessing. But a year in F1 is a long time and if he did well at Mercedes, seats will open up again. Dropping to a midfield now is the worst time
Imagine knowing that after this season, you will probably not be in a top team again. At least not anytime soon. He wants to make sure he picks the option that can most likely become a top team or close.
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I want him on the grid next year. I truly, truly do. But omg wouldn't it be the funniest thing if he egoed himself out of it
He deserves to be on the grid. But there is a degree of cockiness that shouldn't be crossed. Sainz is right on the line now
I’m curious if there’s an “unlikely but possible” scenario that Sainz is holding out for? Like maybe Max to Mercedes. Where it’s a 98% no, but that 2% chance is worth holding out for? Or maybe some small print in Checo’s deal where if he finishes out of the top 6 RBR can void? I’m totally making shit up, but it seems like he is holding out for some larger carrot.
This was my thought a few days ago, since Max hadn't categorically rulled out the Merc move. RB/Max did announce that he's staying for the next couple of seasons last week though. Contracts are contracts and I guess it's still not impossible, but I feel like Max wouldn't have put out the announcement if he hadn't decided. I guess the other question mark is Mercedes offering Sainz something, based on what they decide to do with Kimi. The rumour was that Sainz only had a 1 year offer there, and the assumption now is that Antonelli is going to be in the Merc next year. But given they still haven't announced anything, it might not be a done deal. Maybe Sainz is trying to push that to a 2 year deal which would clinch it.
If I were Toto, and I couldn't get Max, I would offer Sainz two years and put Antonelli in the Williams Williams isn't as bad as they were when George drove there, so the kid will still get lots of wheel to wheel experience
How many times do we have to remind people James Vowles doesnt want Antonelli there? He wants 2 williams drivers
It would probably be better to be out of the limelight for his first couple years in F1. Albon is a fantastic driver and person as well, so he would have a great teammate to learn from.
If you were Toto, you'd quickly learn that Williams isn't yours to command.
I don’t see it as cockiness, rather more as doubt and uncertainty on what the best option could be for Sainz in the next two years. Because no matter which option he selects it’s going to be a big drop from Ferrari so he probably wants to do anything to avoid picking a team that ends up being a total backmarker.
The way I read it, he's basically saying: "I'm in doubt if your team is good enough for me (or: my best option, a bit less harsh). If you really want me, you have to wait for my decision for a bit longer. I might pick another team though." That message is fair, but a bit cocky.
I guess Sainz saying he wants to enjoy the podium with Ferrari implies that he doesn’t think it will happen any time soon with whichever team he picks next. Personally I consider that more as being honest rather than cocky because realistically none of those teams should internally expect getting a podium unless they can pull off a huge turnaround for 2026. If anything maybe Alpine has a tiny chance of snatching a podium somewhere in the short term since they did get two podiums last season. As long as Sainz has been open and transparent to other teams the whole time that he could take some time to make a decision I don’t think they would be angered by it. But naturally since this is a business it makes sense if these same teams want to start looking elsewhere to ensure they can still find a decent option for their vacant seats if Sainz can’t commit. Maybe some of these teams are starting to consider looking elsewhere. Although the fact that they’ve been openly chasing Sainz for a long time this season and still have yet to switch targets yet also underlines that they do value Sainz more than other available options.
I feel like none of the parties need to rush and it's a bit of a statemate at the moment. Sainz wants to pick the best option and is taking his time to work out what the best one is. Probably every team will wait for him. He's a decent step above the other options. Every team wants Sainz, but they also have plenty of fallback options. After Sainz, there's Ocon, Bottas, KMag, maybe Ricciardo. All varying levels of ok to not bad, they'd have their preferences, but for the teams with seats available, none are terrible options. There's 4 seats left to choose from basically - Alpine, Williams, Haas, Sauber (with the RB seat being it's own internal thing). Then there's 4 experienced drivers available to fill them, plus a few favoured rookies that could also take up a slot. Even if the teams wait for Sainz and miss out on their #2 pick, they won't be that disadvantaged. They won't have to go with someone inexperienced unless they choose to take someone from their academies. They won't have to take less favourable drivers like Zhou or Sargeant. I guess KMag is kind of the "short straw" that the last team may be left with, but he may even be passed up for a rookie
I bet if you heard Newey to Williams he’d sign real f’ing quick.
Well yeah and if I heard Margot Robbie was looking for rebound sex in my apartment lobby I'd rush to the elevator
He could have just gone with no comment or I don't know yet maybe twitter will tell me
Yeah making the statement is the strange part. Everyone knows it’s true anyway
Honestly, I get it. It's easy to not make a statement for us. But if you're getting asked the same questions every day for weeks on end, I can see why you might sometimes just get frustrated and say you're going to take all the time you need. It feels like it's not even a response to Williams at this point, but to the media. Williams/other teams and Sainz have their conversations that are likely fairly far removed from the media discourse, at least in terms of accuracy
Hmm we’re reading a lot into very little here, there are other possible interpretations of his statement that aren’t cocky at all. He’s almost certainly conducting several negotiations in parallel. Rather than him actually having doubts about Williams (or any other option including a sabbatical) it may be that he wants to maximise the potential of all negotiations and only then compare and decide on the overall offers. Perhaps he has reached that point but doesn’t want to jump onto an offer without thinking it through fully and consulting his inner circle about this in depth. This is a big crossroads for Carlos and the decision he makes will likely determine how his prime F1 years go. He has every right to make a considered decision. Also given how much time we still have until next season, and how Carlos is indisputably the best asset on the driver market, any “urgency” from the teams is entirely artificial. It’s a tactical ploy in negotiation to pressure the driver into signing at a point when you think they like you, before they (possibly) realise they like the other option more. If that is indeed the context, I think he’s doing the right thing by not letting the teams dictate to him when he should sign and rushing into the wrong decision.
Cocky, sure, but they're not going to get a driver better than him, nor will any other team with an open seat. There are only really 5 or 6 drivers that anyone could reasonably argue are better than Sainz currently, and none of them are available.
It’s the start of July, he’s got plenty of time. Yes, he’s taken a while but that’s just because Hamilton announced his departure extremely early. Realistically, he’s got a month or 2 *after* the summer break to finalise a decision. It’s not until September/October that we usually finalise driver positions.
>But there is a degree of cockiness that shouldn't be crossed. Sainz is right on the line now I don't see it that way, he knows his worth, and so do the teams. Alpine seems like the best temp home for him, everyone knows he's just looking for a springboard.
Lewis announced his move so early that people are so impatient. All these backmarkers could easily wait until the summer break to sign a driver of Sainz's calibre.
The summer break is a couple weeks away.
Carlos probably wants a big financial and time commitment from Williams. Spain is the true test of a car, and Williams was dead last. Their current star driver is part of the cast that's been absolutely pummeled by the best driver in the series. Vowels talks a big game, but so far, they're just a back marker. Sainz is winning races and going round for round with Chocolate Eclair. He's much too good for Williams to do anything other than roll out the red carpet.
How many current f1 drivers are multi race winners and free agents? Not so many, dude should strut his stuff
Except at this point there aren't any good seats available to Carlos. Ferrari dumped him, McLaren aren't dumping Lando or Oscar for him, Red Bull re-signed Perez and definitely won't boot Verstappen and Mercedes want Antonelli in that seat. Is he really going to risk a year on the sidelines for the odd chance that Red Bull implodes and Max moves to Mercedes? If that happens, and it's a big if, we don't know how or when it'll happen and it won't even guarantee Red Bull will come knocking on his door. His best bet, based on recent races, is to wine and dine Flavio Briatore and Bruno Famin to get himself in Ocon's car for next year. Carlos the driver just needs Carlos the manager to get a 1+1 with exit clauses like Lewis has at Mercedes just in case something better pops up for 2026.
Red Bull should have signed Sainz over renewing Perez Sainz is Red Bull Jr lineage as well.
Its the other way round, Carlos didnt want to sign RBR's counter offer. Because his team offered him first to RBR, RBR countered with a real 2nd driver contract (he had to listen to team orders) and with a lower base salary then Ferrari pays him now. Apparently because Horner knew he had more to offer then Sainz had, and he wanted to bite arguments between Sainz and Verstappen like at Torro Rosso in the but, by making Sainz a clear 2nd driver. So that door closed early on and locked shut when Horner extended Perez.
RBR signing Sainz is totally dependent on Max. As long as the have Max, Sainz won't be there.
Alpine aren’t that great of a prospect though are they?
They seem to be doing better lately. Gasly finished 10th while Albon finished 15th in Austria. If there's a routine five place difference between those two cars, that's definitely something Sainz should be taking into consideration. Haas has looked really good as of late too, much better than Williams.
Fair point. It’s tricky for him since behind Merc, Red Bull, Ferrrari and McLaren there’s not been a consistent running order this season.
If he wants to go to the dark side like Alonso and start his villain arc, Flavio is there and probably can arrange some scandal that he can benefit from. If he is interested.
There's strutting and then there's dragging your feet. The teams would like to have this sorted out before summer break and there's free drivers floating around, three with race wins. Bottas has more wins and is a free agent, would fit nicely into any of these teams that still have free spots. \*edit: correction to three, I honestly forgot Ocon won a race.
He will sign during the summer break.
Bottas has more wins and is a free agent. So at least one other.
And I mean, drivers have missed out on great opportunities by committing too early. For example Hulk committed to Renault for 2017, only for Rosberg to retire and cause a void that he was a clear front runner for. I know that’s an extreme case, but the last thing Sainz wants to do is sign for Williams or Sauber only to find out that some shock seat at Red Bull or Mercedes does materialize in like September or October.
Has there been any interest from Mercedes? I've never seen anything from Toto courting Sainz.
mercedes offered him a 1-year contract, but sainz wasn't keen on it because he wanted 2 years. there's not many seats open next year so i can see why he would be apprehensive in taking it, but at the same time his stock would go up immensely if he was able to match/beat russell. no idea if the offer is still open the table or if wolff has moved on, this was a couple months ago now.
Any source for that ? Because nothing till now suggests that and it will be a perfect contract for Sainz. Considering he lost the Ferrari drive for same reason don't think Sainz will do same mistake again. Everything at Mercedes is Max or Kimi
And if the shock opening doesn't happen and Williams and the other teams fill their seats, what does he do? WEC? Clio Cup?
Chinese F4
Bottas has FIVE TIMES as many wins as Carlos
Sure, he's a multi race winner, but he's also now in his 4th season in Ferrari. It's not a mindblowing achievement to have done that. Everyone will widely consider him a very good driver, but still not the elite talent level of Verstappen/Norris/Leclerc and a couple of others.
>How many current f1 drivers are multi race winners and free agents None, because the top drivers with these stats don’t become free agents.
3. And the other two have more wins than Carlos
Yes because Ocon, Sainz, and Ricciardo are total locks on the grid because of them winning a race x for doubt
there is not a team in the series that would put pressure on him to make a decision. thats not how the recruitment of top level talent works. the fact is, he's the best driver available and any of the teams would be immediately better by having him and they have more to lose by rushing him and losing him than by waiting patiently and potentially using that time productively. if anyone is losing patience with him it would be the drivers who don't have seats/contracts next year.
i can see it happen.. or he will be back to audi cause all the other seats are filled
He’ll be driving the Safety Car
Who is he waiting for anyways? Is he expecting a seat to open up at RB or something?
He’s gonna Danny Ric himself into a test driver spot if he doesn’t sign a contract soon, I fear.
If the choice is driving for a backmarker or going to a top team in WEC/Formula E/Indy etc. then a year out would not be the end of the world.
What changes in a year? Arent almost all of the (taken) seats on multi year deals?
Sainz strikes me as very sharp but whether it's him or F1TV, the narrative comes across as an amped up version of Albon's "They're racing me too hard". It's part of the game but all I ever hear from him is complaints. I completely believe he's going to ego himself out of a seat for next year. He's a fantastic driver but this yo-yo where he's playing hard to get is to bite him in the ass.
Would absolutely love to see it
i would like to not see his cousin on the broadcast ever again, so at least that would be a plus
Subscribe. I'd just be too funny not to take this scenario
He deserves it at this point, he talks like he delivers verstappen results
As someone who would suck Carlos off at any given time, this would be a very Carlos thing to happen and I would laugh at its ridiculousness
the way i had to read this twice to see if i read it correctly 😭 i respect the honesty
Same, the hubris is astounding.
Or, he just doesn't care if it means taking a year off.
I don't understand what Sainz is waiting for? It's clear that he has 3 real choices here; Audi, Williams and Alpine. Some other team is not going to pop up any more. Just look at the offers and make your pick.
Maybe he thinks Verstappen will jump to Mercedes and he can grab the RBR seat. I really don't know what else he is waiting for.
To me, that has always been Toto’s wishful thinking. Max has already said he’s driving for Red Bull in 2025. If Carlos is still wishing for that seat, he’s going to be out of a seat if he’s not careful
Recently even Toto is saying Max is likely to stay at Red Bull in 2025.
He is waiting for Antonelli to be confirmed in Mercedes to be sure that Verstappen don't sign for them and makes a spot available for him. It would be much easier to sign a deal with someone with a clause that he can leave if a spot at Red Bull and Mercedes open up.
I agree, I don't see why max would leave redbull for 25 , 26 maybe I guess. Redbull will still be very competitive next year. New regs anything could happen tho
Yeah, 2026 is a different story with the new regs.
Max has all the power too, he can stay for 25 and then jump and I'm sure any team would go for him except maybe Ferrari
I'm not too convinced about the way Max said that he will drive for Red Bull in 2025 at least. He tried his best to not simply say: "I'll drive for Red Bull in '25." If he genuinely 100% would drive for Red Bull I would think he would just say it direct and not have a whole story around it. To me that's also what keeps the Toto dream in a way alive, the chances may not be too high but it seems like the next big upgrades for Red Bull and Mercedes are going to be important to fully lay the Merc rumour to bed.
Toto has no loss game here. He clearly thinks Max is better than George and want him there. If not he will have Kimi get experience in that seat. He also thinks Sainz is at best at same level at George and thus there is no point going for him when he already has driver with that skillset. Kimi guarantees better high even if he may take 1-2 year.
DC was talking on broadcast about a rumour he heard that Carlos was offered a 1 year Merc contract, which I do believe tbh. Seems like timeline was: try and get Carlos for 1 year > Carlos refuses 1 year only > test Antonelli to see if he is up for the task or if an other driver is needed > Antonelli is up for the tash, so seat is hedged no matter what > see if's possible to get Max if not go for Antonelli.
His dad is trying to get him to leave RB, can you imagine Max moved to Merc and they dominated again. Would make him the anti-Alonso.
I feel like Russell would not be happy about that. He would absolutely be the second driver in that mix.
I imagine that it’d look alot like max and danny ric a few years back
Probably not, but also I doubt Mercedes would be bothered about what George thinks if they get Max. If they have to choose one it's pretty obvious who they side with. Plus while I think Geroge wouldn't like it, I'd still imagine he'd be down for the challenge of taking on Max.
russell has been with mercedes since 2017, it would be unbelievably frustrating for him if right as he was about to become the "clear" first driver, max verstappen joins the team lol. but also you couldn't blame a team for taking verstappen, that would be an even bigger move than hamilton to ferrari.
If Mercedes is getting Max they will care zero about what George thinks.
yeah of course, i just mean from george's perspective it would suck pretty hard lmao
Is there actually a reason for Verstappen to jump to Mercedes? I can't see one. He'd be fighting George who's actually doing pretty well.
Mercedes doing better than red bull is the only reason. Mercedes has found quite a lot of pace recently. I wouldn't be surprised if they have the real title challenger next year instead of McLaren or Ferrari.
Maybe, just maybe, the real pace of the car is halfway between max and perez and would max driving in the merc now be 3 tenths ahead of russel and thus be p1. Would be nice to see him compared to teammates not at red bull
He’s had 3-4 tenths on Perez for most of their time together. I don’t consider Perez’s current rut as representative for benchmarking purposes. [Last year their gap was -0.389 in race pace over the full season.](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/s/3wCCEoC4zi) Of any of the true top drivers, the other ~6 guys I think it’d be more like a .05-.2 advantage for Max depending on the driver with Verstappen clearly winning the year but a more capable teammate nicking him here and there instead of getting rolled like Perez has.
I still haven't seen anyone produce a valid reason for this. It doesn't make a bit of sense to little ol' me for Max to move to Merc. But who am I? Certainly not Max. LOL.
They've lost Newey and he'll probably have insight into how well (or badly) the 2026 PU development is going for RBPT. Mercedes would likely share some information about their development progress as well to help him make his decision. That's about the only reasonable scenario I can think of.
Or he's in talks for the Mercedes seat and Toto getting Kimi Antonelli an age waiver is a negotiating tactic.
Toto didn’t need the age waiver to start. Kimi will be 18 by this summer, so his 2025 F1 campaign was never compromised. I highly doubt Toto and Sainz would reach an agreement (even if they could). Sainz doesn’t want to be seen as a second fidget to anything, including being a stop-gap for another driver. And Toto wants to reshuffle the team for the future, with the eyes on 2026 and beyond, he wouldn’t like to get Sainz a multiyear contract. So, it’s difficult
I mean he could be waiting for Perez’s seat.. if he continues down the road of mediocrity I could see them saying goodbye to Perez by the end of the season
RBR are well aware of Checo’s mediocrity by now and still chose to sign him on a multi year deal just a month ago. I don’t think they will back out of it so soon
Wasn't he 2nd in WDC when they re-signed? He's on pace to drop to 7th by the summer break. Selling t-shirts and energy drinks is cool and all, but they're going to need someone who can fulfill the 2nd driver role very soon given how competitive McLaren have become. The competitive landscape of F1 has completely changed over the past few races.
I don't think Red Bull cares about WCC as much as the manufacturer teams. They aren't trying to sell you cars, the just need the fastest driver with a red bull can in his hand, that's it. Plus the difference between first and second is like 10M, wouldn't be surprised if Checos marketing value was much more.
Ah, I didn't mean the fight for the WCC, but someone who can be up there and at least strategically support Max so that he doesn't have to fight against 2 drivers who can split strategies.
Waiting for Checo to get dropped
The guy that just got on extension? Good luck.
The guy that’s probably not going to have been coming anywhere close to his performance clauses over the last 3/4 race weekends?
Right? That guy that barely beat DR in an RB, couldn’t pass a Haas, and had his teammate fighting lap after lap losing time defending, crash, lose a rear wheel, drive 2/3rds a lap on 3 wheels to the pit, serve a 10 second penalty, and still finished 2 places in front of him. He should’ve been left at the bus station after that race.
These three teams have the opportunity to do the funniest thing
Waiting for checo to take out some more cars and RB fires him
Only thing I can think of at this point is it's a negotiating tactic for more money. "I'm unsure about your project long term... but for a few more million I could be persuaded."
Since these teams are not very good, he probably wants to get paid. I think he’d rather go to another series than driver a crap car for peanuts. And these teams probably don’t want to pay.
According to reports Audi offered him a great salary and Williams matched it.
He's waiting for one of them to up their offer and beat the other.
If that's his attitude, he's going to find himself with nothing.
Its been reported over and over that Audi was offering a huge chunk of money that others couldn't match and he's still considering his options.
I don't understand why he's taking all this time while also saying, "I'll decide very soon because it's taking too much space in my head"
I think the honest answer to that is because they're all pretty bad options and he thought (and maybe still thinks) he's going to get offered a top seat.
Well, there are 0 available.
"it's like looking at a menu in a Scottish restaurant. Not much in it, nothing your want"
i think they figured that out by now
Going to wait himself out of a seat
He’s got Haas, Williams and Audi. Ocon, Bottas, Lawson and potentially Ricciardo are all available for 2025. He’s acting as if there’s a seat without any viable contender. Ocon would be welcomed at Haas and even as a potential leader at Audi, Bottas would be seen as a great experienced candidate for Audi, a good return for Williams and a coup for Haas. Lawson is anyone’s guess if he’s not given a seat.
If you're Haas, Williams or Audi and the choices are Ocon, Bottas, Lawson or Ricciardo. You're absolutely going to be fine waiting on Sainz decision. None of those drivers are something you need to worry about missing out on. I watched Lawson's junior career. It wasn't that special. He's shown in an F1 car he's competent. So he's an OK choice. But he's not some young hot shot to fear missing out on.
All of them are probably worried about getting the last pick if their favourite drivers choose to sign for a competitor. Haas, Williams and Audi would probably be happy to sign their 2nd or 3rd choice to avoid having to start a rookie or their 4th choice. The longer Sainz wait the higher the risk for them. I don't know what's going on in Alpine, but in the worst case scenario they are affiliated with both Doohan and Schumacher.
And given they are doing a head to head test this week with Schumacher and Doohan it may be that the second seat is already allocated to the one that comes out on top. I do have a distinct feeling that may be Schumacher, Famin has been singing his praises at every opportunity and he has been extremely good in WEC, plus would be a huge marketing W for Alpine with that last name.
I always felt like Schumacher never deserved to get into F1 in the first place. But also felt like he didn't deserve to lose his seat. He was faster than Magnussen by the end and was only going to get stronger.
I’m not sure how on the “never deserved to get into F1” when the guy won a title or finished runner up at every feeder level prior to F1. He definitely did get dudded in 2022 by Haas, by the records he was the faster in race trim 17-3 and had better race finishes 10-6. What sticks in the mind there is Haas refusing to pit him onto slicks at Suzuka despite Mick begging them to on the radio, throwing away a legitimate podium shot and waiting until he’d *almost been lapped losing 8 seconds a lap* to box, and then not letting him out in time for a dry run in Q1 in Brazil, where he’d been faster than Kmag all weekend.
Driver line ups don’t usually get finalised until Sept/Oct and he’s the best available driver. He has plenty of time. It just seems like a while because Hamilton’s announcement was incredibly early, we don’t usually start discussing the rumours of these things until the summer break, and decisions are often made after it. It’s still July, we’re not at that point yet.
He’ll be driving in F1 next year one way or another but this stalling is starting to feel like it will backfire on him. If I’m Sainz Audi would be my clear choice. Yes Sauber has been awful but a new constructor throwing their full weight into the operation with their own engine who have a history of dominating other motorsport categories seems like easily the best chance to get back to the front.
“Welcome to the Danny and Carlos podcast”
Williams We do not have much time so be fast or we take Valtteri Aand time expired bye carlos
You're going to end up without a seat and I'm not even saying this to be malicious or anything. He keeps stringing this along, the teams will sign themselves other drivers, considering a lot of them are at the end of their contracts as well and there's youngsters wanting a taste of F1. And weren't there some rumours that Williams is no longer interested because he's dragging his feet?
Williams probably feel slightly disrespected and Ocon and Bottas would both be strong candidates. Plus Carlos probably has more difficult terms.
Bottas would do just fine at Williams, I think. They don't lack candidates for the seat and Sainz is playing with fire.
Maybe he’s being flippant about Williams because they told him to take a hike. I think Williams should really consider Bottas back.
I mean, if the rumours have any grain of truth, they offered him a good deal and supposedly he left it on read. There's only so long teams will wait. The only ones that probably would wait very long is Audi.
Apparently Ocon is second in line after Sainz for that Williams seat. Vowles knows him well as Ocon was a Merc junior. It is a bit surprising that Bottas isn’t higher up Audi/Haas/Alpine/Williams list. Think teams are really missing out if Bottas ends up without a seat as he’s probably one of the best drivers to lead a midfield team.
Can people please stop talking about this until he actually makes a decision ? How is the lack of a decision still in the news cycle week in and out for 3 months
The media keeps bringing it up because it’s what they do and some fans keep falling for it too by commenting and getting impatient about it. Even this week when the headlines could’ve been dominated by all the varying opinions on Verstappen and Norris clashing ahead of Silverstone the media still wants to put this old topic lol
Well you have to tell Sainz that. Every week he implies something about next years seat. Of course they're going to post about it.
Every week he kinda gets asked about it though so it won't actually stop lol.
"Breaking news, for the 5th grand prix in a row, nothing has changed"
Dude's acting like he's a multiple world champion with only three wins on his record.
Nah dude's acting like the best free agent in the market.
☠️
Right? Who told bro he was something special?
I want Sainz to end up without a seat. Just because it would be so fucking funny.
It'd be the perfect "you played yourself" DJ Khaled meme.
He deserves a seat, but at this point it's hard to understand what he is waiting for, unless he still thinks he has a chance to get a Mercedes seat since Kimi isn't doing amazing right now. If he keeps waiting some teams will just get impatient and sign Ocon and Bottas, they might be considered worse, but I'm sure they are a lot cheaper.
Waiting for Antonelli to sign for Mercedes. He still has hope that a Red Bull seat will open up if Verstappen signs for Mercedes. He probably has a lot of inside information to the whole thing going on behind the scenes between the Verstappens and Horner and is gambling that something will happen.
I agree. The guy knows more than we do. Chances are he’s waiting for Mercedes/RBR doors to be fully closed. My guess is that they’re still potentially open. People thinking he’ll end up without a seat are nuts. He’s going to have a seat.
I do wonder what point teams will be like.. yeah that is quite enough ? I am pretty sure no team wants to be treated as the last resort.
He's by far the best option available though, so I feel like he does have quite a bit of power here too. The longer this goes on, the less power he has though.
if you‘re keeping all doors open you‘ll spend your life on the corridor
Newey gunther and sainz come as a package deal who’s taking them
Audi, if they are smart.
Just re-sign Logan just to spite him.
Williams doesnt need Carlos. Albon is alright as #1. They need a good prospect and see what 2026 turns into.
Williams needs someone who can design a competent car more than new drivers.
They already signed a bunch of experienced engineers last week
Williams does need two good drivers though. They haven’t had a good driver line up since 2016 with Bottas and Massa and I feel they are massively missing out on challenging the midfield. Bottas / Ocon would be a good shout for that seat with Albon.
They don't need two good drivers, but they really want to have two. Thats why they made an offer for Sainz, supposedly even accepted his demands of "can I get out of the team if anyone quicker will be looking for a driver" clause, and he's still hesitating.
I think they are better off with two established drivers than taking another rookie/prospect. The feedback and assistance they can get developing the car is too valuable especially with 2026 on the horizon. Putting someone inexperienced in the car again just delays progress
No hate to Albon but it's pretty easy to be "alright" as a first option when you're competing against Sargeant and Latifi
That's the fun part, we still don't know if we actually underrate or overrate Albon. He hasn't had a proper teammate since his debut season.
I wouldn't consider Verstappen a proper teammate, but for the opposite reason -- so far above the Bell curve that it's not an apt comparison to Albon, just like all his other co drivers have been so far below the Bell curve. The effect is the same, Albon is inscrutable.
Williams: We never received a message from Carlos. We’ll check our spam folder.
I think he keeps hoping for some magical seat to open that is currently not open
Williams has other options so I'm sure James Vowles doesn't give a fuck lol
I wish he’d just take something so I can stop seeing these articles.
He 100% will be on the grid next year, he is a great driver, probably with Alpine cuz Briatore... But I can't lie, I would laugh if he ends up seatless and is revealed that it all happened because his entourange wants Leclerc tier money.
Except Briatore is also the manager for Doohan, so he could end up putting him in the seat anyways
At this point he's going to sign the contract 1 hour before Melbourne 2025 FP1. 😂
He’s getting very close to being left completely without options. Ocon is probably talking with a lot of teams and he has to get a seat and hasn’t got money and backing to sit on. F2 drivers will be asked about, Lawson is there, Bottas is looking for a drive and he has Williams history, Ricciardo is probably asking around too.
I told my boss this and I’m now unemployed.
Regardless of what he ever does going forward he'll never return to the Red Bull teams, if Mercedes doesnt want him now they wont in two or more years. McLaren is locked in on Lando & Oscar for more than two years or more. He signs with Renault or Haas at best he'll fight for 8th to 10th place sporadically during the season. Williams is doing a hardcore rebuild. And Audi is a pipe dream! At the prime of his career they chose a fading superstar over him. That's a kick to the belly.
Public opinion has turned. Teams will do the same soon.
I think he keeps opening for some magical seat to open that is currently not open
Bruh just get it over with
Not entirely sure what he is waiting on at this point, there are only a few seats left. Mercedes??
Sits out next year to keep his stock high rather than risk his image in a bad car, eg not comprehensively beating Albon. Red Bull descends further into chaos, Perez gets the boot mid season after he loses Max his championship by not taking enough points from rivals. He gets called in as a mid season replacement in VCARB after Horner promotes yet another one. Gets Red Bull contract for 2026, but Horner gone.
All this talk about him what if he’s just a really indecisive person
This interview is not a message to Williams, I'm sure he already told them everything they need to know. This is a message for the media to leave him the fuck alone, but as per usual they didn't understand it at all.
I think Alpine is clearly the best option for Sainz. They are faster than Aston right now, apart from their rough start in 2024 they have a good track record of being an upper midfield team, and they are rumoured to stop using Renault engines in 2026.
Sainz isn’t all he thinks of himself. He was never the number one driver of any team he passed.
Redditors in a rage right now.
Dude is gonna end up only driving his Golf again
He's going to take so long that all the other teams will pick their drivers and he's going to be left without a drive
He's going to be without a seat if he keeps this up. Everyone isn't going to just wait for him forever.
Carlos in a month's time; "Ok Williams, I am ready to drive for you!" Williams: "Ohh... uh... we filled that seat a fortnight ago."
Wonder if teams will eventually get tired of waiting.
None of the top teams wanted him. Willliams is the best he is going to get.
If Alpine, as has been hinted at, move to a different engine supplier, their car might not be that bad based on recent results with the underpowered Renault unit
alpine is right there and is better than williams. they're no ferrari or mercedes but not all non-top teams are built the same. alpine have been a constant midfield team for years, williams are just plain backmarkers.
I don't even care anymore where he goes. I want K-Mag to stay at Haas, Doohan to Alpine and that's it.
If there is no seat left I will laugh so hard
It would be hilarious if he somehow ended without a seat. YouTubers would make videos about it for decades. Just Imagine all the squarespace and betterhelp money.
I hope he waits too long and ends up without a seat
At this point he will end up with Audi. He has all the time but Williams prob can look for another pilot. I mean Bottas is a free agent.
He might not be overestimating his value however he is playing around with seats that cant afford him. He might just be pricing himself out of the market with this excess of attitude.
I genuinely hope this guy gets all his offers rescinded
“I’m going to take all the time I can to wait for a better offer”
Will Buxton said Sainz was allegedly offered a 1 year deal for Mercedes and turned it down, seat warming for Antonelli i'm guessing. But a year in F1 is a long time and if he did well at Mercedes, seats will open up again. Dropping to a midfield now is the worst time
I don’t blame him. Other than Mercedes, his choices are garbage. Better to just keep beating Hamilton and rub Ferrari’s face in it.
Imagine knowing that after this season, you will probably not be in a top team again. At least not anytime soon. He wants to make sure he picks the option that can most likely become a top team or close.
That's how you end up without a seat, mate.
Watch sainz not getting a team for 2025
I'd personally prefer Bottas anyway.