Ferrari has decided to say goodbye to Carlos Sainz Jr after the 2024 season to bring Lewis Hamilton to the team. With that, begins the biggest transfer of the century in Formula One. But once the season is over, where does Carlos Sainz go? Audi? Maybe?

The Spaniard has showcased his skill behind the wheel year after year but was outshined by his teammate Charles Leclerc who got a multiyear contract while Sainz got nothing. Frederic Vasseur stole Mercedes’ star driver and now both Toto Wolff and Carlos Sainz have decisions to make. Coming in from the Sky Sports F1 podcast is advice for the 29-year-old driver, from Indian driver Karun Chandhok. He breaks the noise with reasons why Sainz will not join Audi as rumored.

F1 pundit advises Carlos Sainz to grab the Mercedes seat

During the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Matt Baker was joined by Natalie Pinkham, Karun Chandhok, and Tom McCluskey and they discussed everything going on with the sport. When the attention was turned to whether Carlos Sainz Jr would join Audi, Chandhok said, “Everyone’s gotten very excited because of his dads been in Audi and everyone just assumes he’s going to Audi for 2026. I mean, but, I just don’t see why he wants to go there. And I don’t think he wants to go there.”

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Explaining his shocking statement, he said, “I think he will think about going there further down the line towards the later part of his career.” But why not now? Chandhok further explains, “Audi aren’t going to win the World Championship in 26 27 or probably 28. They’re not. So you know for Sainz, this is the prime.” After explaining that Audi is a team that will take time to settle into the sport he brought his attention to the driver’s age. He added, “By the time he goes to Audi, in let’s say gets a championship contender in 2029, he’s going to be 38 years old.” 

The Indian driver went into further details and stated, “This is the prime of his career. He cannot afford to waste it with a new startup team. He needs to be trying to do everything he can to get in that Mercedes seat.” If given the job of Carlos Sainz Jr’s manager, Karun Chandhok said, “I’d be on the phone to Toto every single day sending him every possible metric and spreadsheet of why he is equal to Leclerc, that is what I would be doing, banging on the door to get him (Sainz) into a top team.”

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Getting into Mercedes will hugely benefit both Wolff and Sainz. But there are also other teams that he can join.

What other team can Carlos Sainz join to fight for the World Championship?

If it’s not Mercedes for Sainz, there are still a few options. According to the panel of the podcast, another good idea would be Aston Martin. The team has been picking up for a while and with Fernando Alonso’s influence on the team, there are chances that the duo can give other teams a run for their money. When Aston Martin was brought up, Chandhok said that it was his other plausible choice.

But beyond that, there are many drivers that will be out of contract that year, bringing many opportunities for Sainz, and besides the two already mentioned seats, there is a chance that he might even try to race next to Max Verstappen, replacing Checo.

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Where do you think Carlos Sainz Jr. will move after Ferrari? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.