Horner sheds light on why Sainz was never a candidate to partner Verstappen · RaceFans

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has indicated why the team did not consider hiring Carlos Sainz Jnr to replace the struggling Sergio Perez.

Sainz was previously a member of Red Bull’s junior academy and made his F1 debut alongside Max Verstappen at their second team, known at the time as Toro Rosso in 2015. However after Verstappen was promoted to Red Bull, Sainz never had the opportunity to join him and later joined a succession of the team’s rivals.

Before this season began Sainz learned he would lose his Ferrari seat for 2025. Perez struggled for much of this season but Red Bull only confirmed today, 10 days after the championship’s conclusion, that he will not drive for them next year.

The announcement came despite Red Bull handing Perez a two-year contract extension, which they made public in June. Horner indicated the decision was taken earlier, which ruled out the possibility of picking Sainz as Perez’s replacement.

“I think Carlos is a great driver and we’ve seen that obviously this year at some times,” he told Sky. “You’ve got to look at all the various criteria and dynamics.

“At the point that we extended Checo’s contract you have to remember that he was second in the world championship and finishing on the podium in the first four out of five races.”

Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko claimed earlier this year Verstappen and Sainz had a poor relationship during their time at Toro Rosso. “The atmosphere between the two at Toro Rosso was quite toxic,” he said.

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Horner said Perez took the decision to leave the team but suggested he intends it to be temporary.

“At the time we signed [the deal] he’d had four podiums in five races so it was a logical extension just to remove speculation of which there was already too much around the team,” said Horner.

“Of course, any contract has certain performance clauses and criteria within it so it didn’t make any difference to this decision of Sergio’s to step away and take a sabbatical.”

He confirmed RB duo Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda are the two drivers under consideration to partner Verstappen next year.

“We have all of the information that we need,” he said. “Essentially, it’ll be a choice between Yuki and Liam.

“Both have got strong credentials. We tested Yuki recently at the tyre test in Abu Dhabi for a chance for him to work with the engineering team. Liam has done a lot of testing with us behind the scenes this year as well and has driven very well in the six or seven races that he’s had.

“So we have all the information, we’re just looking at it and considering all of that, speaking with the engineering team as well. And we’ll come to a conclusion in the coming days.”

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