Carlos Sainz is coming under pressure from one team as he considers his next step in F1, Martin Brundle says. Ferrari have let Sainz go for the 2025 season after signing Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes.
Sainz has been one of the standout drivers of the 2024 season, winning the Australian Grand Prix and scoring a podium in every race he’s started. Despite missing the Saudi Arabian GP through illness, he ranks fourth in the championship, just four points behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Brundle relayed the latest noises on Sainz’s F1 future. The 29-year-old is now a three-time race winner and 21-time podium finisher, making him arguably the hottest property on the market.
There’s been talk that he could make a shock return to Red Bull, potentially reforming his partnership with Max Verstappen. Sainz started out in F1 with Toro Rosso before leaving for Renault at the end of 2016.
Mercedes also stand out as an option as they prepare to lose Hamilton. However, Toto Wolff may not pick his driver line-up until late August, and that could be too late for the free agent Sainz.
Elswhere, Aston Martin apparently hold an interest in the former McLaren man, though it’s unclear whether he’d replace two-time world champion Fernando Alonso or Lance Stroll, the son of owner Lawrence. The former has his eyes on possible opportunities at Red Bull and Mercedes.
Martin Brundle shares what he’s heard about Carlos Sainz future
According to Brundle, Sauber, who will become Audi for 2026 following a takeover, are pushing Sainz to sign on the dotted line. That would mean ‘treading water’ in the short-term and then gambling on the German manufacturer making a sharp ascent up the grid.
Sauber are one of three teams yet to score a point in the 2024 championship. While Audi are targeting titles in F1, they accept that this is unlikely before 2031, by which point Sainz would be approaching his late 30’s.
Brundle reckons that he could potentially join the team at a later stage in his career when they’ve become more established. In the meantime, he must decide whether to stick it out in the hope of more appealing offers.
He said: “The problem Team Sainz have is that Sauber, let’s call them Audi going forward, are putting him under pressure to do a long-term deal which means he’ll then be at Sauber next year treading water and then hanging all of his chances on how quickly Audi can get their team and their power unit together and become competitive, and that’s no small task.
“He could actually go off and have a really serious three – even four – seasons with another team and still join Audi when they’re ripe and ready to go. But they’re putting him under pressure to sign and I don’t see the other three teams ready to give into that pressure and sign Sainz.”
Mercedes set to snub Carlos Sainz
There may be surprise that Mercedes haven’t jumped at the chance to hire Sainz given that he’s a proven commodity at the front of the field and is currently in the form of his life. However, Damon Hill has suggested the optics of the situation could be a ‘problem’.
Sainz would look to some observers like an inherent downgrade from Hamilton given the line-up decision Ferrari have made. Up to this point, there have been few ‘welcoming noises’ from the Silver Arrows.
Karun Chandhok says it would be ‘great’ to see Mercedes complete a de facto swap, but that doesn’t appear to be on the cards. Instead, they could place their faith in teenage junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Peter Windsor thinks it would be ‘bad for Formula 1’ if Sainz had to drop down the grid to Sauber. It’s unclear whether at this stage whether he’d replace Valtteri Bottas or Zhou Guanyu, both of whom are out of contract.
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