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McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has claimed that he would welcome Carlos Sainz back at the team if they were to have an open seat in the future. The Spanish driver was at the Papaya team for two seasons from 2019 to 2020.
Carlos Sainz made his move to McLaren from Renault in 2019, and in his two seasons at the team, he beat his rookie teammate Lando Norris on both occasions. The Spaniard then got his dream move over to Ferrari in 2021, and he spent four seasons at the Italian team.
Speaking to Spanish outlet Marca recently, Zak Brown claimed that Sainz would be welcome back at McLaren, if ever the opportunity were to arise in the future. But the American also mentioned that his team currently has a strong line-up with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
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“If we had an open seat, of course, we would consider Carlos. But, right now, we have Lando and Oscar under contract for several years, but if for some reason the situation changes and Carlos is available, I have his phone number in my address book."
During his time at McLaren, Carlos Sainz was able to grab two podium finishes, a statistic that was more down to the pace of his car than the driver himself. During his time at Ferrari, he showcased his potential by claiming four race wins and even finished ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc in his first season at the team.
Sainz was dropped by Ferrari at the end of the 2024 season to make way for the 7x F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton. The 30-year-old had to take a step down in the F1 pecking order this year, and settle for a seat at Williams, with whom he has signed a multi-year deal.
Zak Brown weighs in on Ferrari dropping Carlos Sainz
Zak Brown has claimed that Carlos Sainz was dropped by Ferrari amid extraordinary circumstances. The American opines that it is not often that a team has the opportunity to sign a 7x F1 world champion like Lewis Hamilton.
Brown mentioned that the Sainz and Ferrari saga is more nuanced than a driver simply being dropped by the team, and also claimed that he was grateful to have never been in a position to make a similar call.
"It’s not as simple as that, there are a lot of dynamics around it that play a role. Lewis [Hamilton] is a seven-time champion and there are not many occasions when you can have a sportsman like that in your team." said Brown [via Marca]
“But, at the same time, Carlos was amazing with us, a good friend, a great driver. Luckily, I didn’t find myself in the situation where I had to make that decision,” he added.
Sainz has not had the best of starts to life at Williams, having not even finished two of his first five races of the 2025 season. But there were positive signs for the driver at Jeddah when he finished the race in P8 and finished ahead of his teammate Alex Albon for the first time.
