Red Bull says it can’t match Audi’s very high F1 offer to Sainz

Sainz and his entourage have held talks with all the Formula 1 teams that have vacancies for next season, when he will be replaced at Ferrari by Lewis Hamilton.

Until Fernando Alonso extended his contract with Aston Martin last week, the Madrid native was weighing up his options, with up to eight teams up to date, with only Ferrari and McLaren having closed their 2025 rosters so far.

This choice is headed by the possibility of Carlos Sainz moving to Red Bull as a replacement for Sergio Perez, or if Max Verstappen makes the surprise decision to leave Formula 1’s top team in the face of the current management war and scandal with Christian Horner.

Red Bull, via Helmut Markopublicly praised Sainz at Suzuka and said there that “Audi is putting pressure” on the 2025 driver market.

That’s because it has long been known that Audi intended to sign Sainz ahead of his entry into Formula 1 in 2026 with the acquisition of Sauber, with the 29-year-old already having links with the manufacturer thanks to his father’s participation in the Dakar. Rally with your RS Q e-tron from 2022, including winning this 2024 edition.

But ahead of the return of the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend, Marco has added another intriguing element to the saga of driver contracts confirmed for 2025 in this tumultuous start to the ‘silly season’.

In an interview with an Austrian newspaper Kleine ZeitungMarco said of Sainz: “We’re talking to him, he’s having his best season in Formula 1, but he’s got a very good offer from Audi that we can’t match or beat.”

Liam Lawson, Reserve Driver, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team, Helmut Marko, Consultant, Red Bull Racing, Peter Bayer, CEO, RB F1 Team

“But we know him from his time with Toro Rosso, even then he was Max’s teammate (in 2015 and early 2016),” he said. “However, it hurt him at a time when we were supporting Verstappen at Red Bull, not him.”

That last sentence is a reference to Red Bull quickly promoting Verstappen to its main team at the start of 2016, with Sainz leaving the Renault team at the end of the 2017 season, something the current Ferrari driver had sought.

Elsewhere in the interview, Marco said that Verstappen’s public support during the various turns in Red Bull’s management war in early 2024 was a “great sign of loyalty” that he “absolutely does not take for granted, especially at this moment and age.” moment”. age.”

Marco tried it too We clarify recent rumors about the composition of the pilots of the Republic of BelarusGiven Daniel Ricciardo’s poor start to the campaign and his successful replacement in 2023 after injury, Liam Lawson still does not have a confirmed Formula 1 seat for 2025.

Regarding rumors of a possible swap of Ricciardo and Lawson during the season, which have appeared in the New Zealand and Italian press in recent weeks, Marco said: “I don’t quite understand where these things are coming from, since everything has been cleared up and settled with the (Red Bull) shareholders.” “

“With Liam Lawson being a reserve driver, we have a strong driver in the team who has a contractual right to drive for another team if he doesn’t take the wheel with us in 2025,” he continued. “In that sense, of course, it would be interesting for us to see him in Formula 1 this year to get an even clearer picture, but it is a complex issue so we will have to see how things develop.”

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