F1 frontrunner confirms team had talks with Carlos Sainz

Red Bull's senior advisor Helmut Marko recently revealed that the Austrian team had talks with Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz but offered a less lucrative offer than Audi.

Before the 2024 F1 season began, Ferrari shockingly announced that they would be replacing Carlos Sainz with Lewis Hamilton in 2025. This forced Sainz to become a free agent after 2024 and seek a seat in other teams to continue his F1 career.

Several reports emerged linking the Spaniard to teams like Mercedes, Audi, and even Red Bull. Many believed that a driver swap between Mercedes and Ferrari would be fruitful, while others speculated that Audi would be the best option for Sainz.

Recently, Red Bull advisor himself claimed that the defending world champions are in talks with the 29-year-old. In an exclusive interview with the Austrian media outlet Kleine Zeitung, Marko was asked about Carlos Sainz fitting in Red Bull's future. The 80-year-old revealed that Red Bull was in talks with the Ferrari driver, but would not be able to beat the tempting offer made by Audi.

Marko added how Sainz has a connection with the Austrian team since he began his F1 career in Toro Rosso, Red Bull's B team, in 2015. During that time, the Spaniard was teamed up with Max Verstappen.

"We're talking to him, he's having his strongest season in Formula 1. But he has a very lucrative offer from Audi that we can't match or beat. But we still know him from the Toro Rosso days, even back then he drove with Max. But it really hurt him back then when we at Red Bull relied on Verstappen and not on him," Marko said.

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F1 pundit feels Audi is the only realistic option for Carlos Sainz

Since nothing has yet been confirmed about Carlos Sainz's future, F1 pundit Peter Windsor recently explored all the options that the Ferrari driver has and concluded that Audi is his best bet.

Speaking on Cameron F1 YouTube channel, Windsor initially stated that Red Bull offering Sainz a seat depends on how Sergio Perez performs in the 2024 F1 season. He added that Mercedes could fast-track their junior driver Kimi Antonelli to F1 and might not sign Sainz as well.

Hence, he concluded that the only realistic option for Carlos Sainz was to join Audi.

"If you are Carlos's management, you say, 'Well, we'll put Red Bull to one side then because they may or may not offer him the drive depending on what they want to do with Perez', and then...Where do you go, you know, it's very frustrating," Windsor said.

"They could offer him one year at Mercedes before they [the team] sign the great Kimi [Antonelli] or they might even race the great Kimi next year if he's going to be in a Williams at Monza, as they say. So that doesn't leave anything other than Audi for Carlos," he added.

After the 2024 F1 Japanese GP, Carlos Sainz stands in fourth place in the drivers' championship table with 55 points, despite not participating in the Saudi Arabian GP due to appendicitis.