How Max Verstappen could mess up Carlos Sainz
“Unfortunately, it’s not something that depends on me; I have to wait and see what decisions will be made.” In the Miami Grand Prix paddock, Scuderia Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz was very honest in admitting that he is not in a strong position in the driver market.
The Spaniard could not finalize the renewal with Ferrari in light of Lewis Hamilton’s arrival in Maranello, and the most logical hypothesis, namely taking over the seven-time champion’s mantle at Mercedes, is made more complicated than expected because Carlos Sainz is not a priority for team principal Toto Wolff, who has two dreams on the horizon for the 2026 Formula 1 championship. The first is more concrete: Andrea Kimi Antonelli is a Mercedes driver and when he proves ready, he can be a full-time driver for the three-pointed star. Wolff, at a time when there were no suspicions, secured the talent from Bologna since his karting days to avoid repeating the mistake of losing Max Verstappen due to Helmut Marko’s sudden move, which offered the Verstappens (father and son) F1 when the son was still a minor, a wildcard that Mercedes and Ferrari couldn’t match.
According to the German publication F1-insider.com, indeed, Mercedes has made an offer to Carlos Sainz, but the contract would be annual precisely to keep the door open for a potential departure of Max Verstappen from Red Bull without forgetting the possible growth of Kimi Antonelli (George Russell’s contract expires in 2025, so a Max Verstappen-Kimi Antonelli pairing in 2026 is not to be excluded a priori).
Audi awaits a definitive response from Carlos Sainz by the Monaco Grand Prix before turning to potential Plan B options such as one of the current Alpine drivers, Esteban Ocon or Pierre Gasly. Accepting the annual contract from Mercedes could therefore mean for Carlos Sainz finding himself back on the market towards 2026, but at that point without the possibility of landing at Audi. The annual contract with Mercedes or the ‘career’ contract (certainly from an economic point of view) with Audi are the options on the table for the Spanish driver, who cannot hope for Red Bull, which still has Sergio Perez’s renewal as its first option, although the Mexican’s weekend in Miami was not the best.
