With his Australian GP victory, Carlos Sainz has proved his racing abilities once more. The Spaniard is an exceptional driver that any team would be lucky to have. Despite that, Sainz is without a racing seat for 2025 thanks to a shock decision by his current team, Ferrari. However, thanks to the volatile nature of the current driver’s market, Sainz has a lot of options, or so it seems. BBC expert Andrew Benson highlighted the uncertain nature of Sainz’s future while shutting the Red Bull door thanks to his history with Max Verstappen.

Many forget but Sainz was once part of the Red Bull family as he drove for its sister team, Toro Rosso. So after the news of Ferrari not being in his future came to light, the Spaniard was instantly linked with a return to the Austrian team with the second seat up for grabs. However, Benson recently shut that door in a column on BBC on account of his tense history with Verstappen while highlighting how Sainz is not the preference in any of the top teams with an available seat.

“You might think Sainz would be a good fit at Red Bull, Mercedes or Aston Martin, for example. And Audi – as Sauber will become in 2026 – are definitely interested. But there were tensions between Red Bull, Max Verstappen, and Sainz when they were team-mates at Toro Rosso,” said Benson.

“Mercedes’ sights are set on Verstappen – should he become available, Antonelli – their protege in Formula 2, and then Alonso, in that order. And Aston Martin want to keep Alonso and have already offered him a lucrative new multi-year contract, and will only look elsewhere if he moves. So Sainz is to some degree a hostage of fortune. He’ll definitely end up somewhere, but it’s a very fluid situation and hard to predict as a result,” he concluded.

So that’s Aston Martin, Mercedes, and Red Bull all either out of the question or in doubt for Sainz. For a driver who’s showcased his talents just recently, his future does not look bright. However, if you’re among those who still believe the Red Bull door is open, let us give you another opinion on the same matter.

Ex-Ferrari man delivers his verdict on the Carlos Sainz-Max Verstappen pairing

Ex-Ferrari engineer Ernest Knoors weighed in on the debate and discussed Carlos Sainz’s future in the sport. He believes the Red Bull boss Christian Horner, amid the internal power struggle, wants to bring in a driver that can challenge Verstappen. He has had the desire to employ two world-class drivers since 2013. However, now that he has the Thai majority stakeholders’ support he wants to fulfill this wish by signing Sainz.

However, Ernest Knoors believes getting Sainz on board will not sit well with Verstappen. The ex-Ferrari man believes this internal power struggle will only be elevated if and when Sainz joins Ferrari.

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He said, “If Christian feels that Max Verstappen and Jos Verstappen and camp Helmut Marko are putting a little bit of pressure on him, then you could say, ‘Well, someone like Carlos Sainz. If I bring them in, then I have someone with whom I can potentially become champion.’ That’s what he’d think. And then actually increase the pressure on Max. I don’t really think Max is eager to have Carlos Sainz as a teammate.” 

Some believe there is still a chance while others think the door is closed. Regardless of what comes of this, one thing’s for sure, there will surely be some tensions if the two do drive alongside each other in 2025.