Mercedes keeps the door open for Carlos Sainz on one condition

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has kept the door open for Carlos Sainz if he's willing to wait for the team's decision. The 2025 F1 driver market has not been as dynamic as many would have expected. The season started with a bombshell as Lewis Hamilton announced he was going to Ferrari in 2025.

Since then, it's been a series of extensions with a few more or less predictable moves. Aston Martin has signed an extension with Fernando Alonso. Nico Hulkenberg, on the other hand, will be moving to Sauber/Audi in 2025, while Haas recently announced Ollie Bearman as one of the two drivers next season.

Mercedes, however, has not announced who will replace Lewis Hamilton, and similarly, Carlos Sainz has not decided on his future.

Carlos Sainz was in contention for a seat at both Red Bull and Mercedes, but with Sergio Perez getting an extension, one door closed. At the German team, teenager Kimi Antonelli is supposed to be at the top of the list, but his underwhelming F2 season has not helped with perceptions.

Talking to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has revealed that Carlos Sainz is an option if he's willing to wait. He said (via formulapassion),

"With Carlos you can’t go wrong, especially if we have a competitive car, he could help us for the constructors’ championship. There are many arguments in his favour. I want to take all the time necessary to decide and keep all options open for as long as possible."

He added,

"When we spoke I told him that I wasn’t sure he could wait for us, because I don’t want to make a decision in a hurry. But Sainz is still a possibility, obviously he has to decide what to do with the other teams”.

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Carlos Sainz admits to going through a lot of stress when it comes to negotiations

In the pre-race press conference, Carlos Sainz admitted that the off-track action had been very stressful for him recently. The driver has been linked to multiple teams, and any delays from the Spaniard potentially hurts his case even more, as squads like Audi and Williams question the commitment he would have for the project. Touching on the pending decision, Sainz said,

“Honestly, quite a lot. I’m not going to lie, Mondays to Thursdays before I arrive at the track, there’s a lot of phone calls, a lot of time spent on the phone, meetings with my management team, but also with the teams that I’m talking to. Trying to understand and trying to have a full picture of the situation."

He added,

“And yes, probably quite stressful and time consuming. Instead of maybe being able to fully disconnect and recharge, your mind is still somewhere else and thinking about your future and wondering what will it be? So not an ideal situation.”

The driver's future has kept the entire driver market on hold at this stage and it will be interesting to see what the next step of action will be from the Spaniard, who has to make a decision soon.