Carlos Sainz is the biggest name on the Formula One grid without a drive for next season. Starting his fourth season with Ferrari, Sainz was expecting to re-sign for the Scuderia this February until at least 2026 with possible options to extend.
Over the winter Fred Vasseur made it clear he would like to retain his current driver line up and led Italian journalists to believe the Spaniard’s new contract was just a week or so away.
Then came the bombshell pre-season, Lewis Hamilton had been recruited by John Elkan and whilst it would not have been behind Vasseur’s back, when the chairman of the Ferrari group comes calling, its not usually well looked upon if the answer is ‘no.’
There were early possibilities Sainz could move to either Mercedes or Red Bull. The former world champions need to replace Hamilton, but with star academy driver Kimi Antonelli expected to be in the Mercedes for 2026, for Carlos this was a one year only offer while he is at the height of his powers.
Red Bull possibilities for Carlos
There were possibilities at Red Bull given the internal chaos the team experienced at the turn of the year, which resulted in Max Verstappen hinting he may leave the team earlier than his deal which sees him through to 2028.
Even as a replacement for Perez, Sainz would have been hopeful of an opportunity to drive for the Milton Keynes based team, yet in an act of loyalty Checo’s support in the dark times, Christian Horner decided to retain the Mexican on a 1+1 two year contract.
Sauber have courted Sainz’s signature for some time, even placing an end of April deadline on his decision, which they later relented on. Carlos’ father has links Audi, as the Swiss based team will be known in 2026, yet the admission of technical director James Key that the project may only start coming together towards the end of 2026 is hardly inspiring for someone of Sainz’s obvious talents.
James Vowles, Williams team boss, made a very public plea for Sainz to join the iconic British racing marque. “That bit I can say, the number one target is Carlos,” Vowles told Sky Sports F1 at the recent Canadian Grand Prix.
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“He’s a race-winning driver that last year against all odds beat Max [Verstappen] in Singapore with a brilliant drive, and that’s not the first time, he’s intelligent in how he does things, logical, incredibly quick.
“What he did in Shanghai, this will sound like a negative and it’s not, in qualifying he crashed and we’ve all been there to a certain extent, it’s an impressive athlete that can reset and then go out and beat your team mate in that condition, and I think that shows you how strong he is as a driver.
“I think any team on the grid would be fortunate to have someone like Carlos alongside them.”
Vowles set the rumour mill alight when he codedly mentioned that Spain was the next race up and then a draft embargo on the Sainz to Williams media announcement suggested it would be in Spain when the Spaniard was announced to join the Grove based team.
Why the delay?
So what happened to delay Williams big news? As the Mirror reveals today, another left field offer was made to Sainz just prior to the weekend, which left him another option to consider – one previously not on Carlos’ radar.
Both Alpine drivers are out of contract this year and since the episode in Monaco which sent team boss Bruno Famin into meltdown, Esteban Ocon has announced he will be leaving the French owned squad at the end of this year. It appears this fact has sparked a genuine interest from Alpine in making a formal offer to their former driver.
Carlos raced for the Enstone based team when branded as Renault back in 2017/18 before leaving for McLaren. Its no co-incidence following the announcement of the returning former boss, Flavio Briatore as a consultant to the struggling F1 team, Sainz attention has been caught by the controversial and flamboyant Italian.
Flavio was pictured in deep conversation with Carlos’ father and the Mirror reports several meetings took place in Barcelona between senior Alpine team members and the Sainz entourage.
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Despite denying finding a new driver was his top priority, Briatore along with Renault CEO Luca de Meo will be desperate to replace the outgoing Ocon with a driver of equal talent.
Carlos appeared frustrated at the delay in announcing his move to Williams when asked about where he was up to with finding a new team, the Spaniard was direct: “The latest is that a decision will be taken very soon. I don’t want to wait any longer.
“I think it’s getting to a point where it’s taking space out of my head, for quite a few weeks and months now. It’s time to make a decision and the decision will be taken soon. Hopefully, soon we will have things to talk about,” Sainz concluded.
Williams are spending “hundreds of millions” improving their ageing infrastructure back at base said James Vowles in Canada. Further commercial director James Bower revealed to Bloomberg, the team have enough sponsorship to now spend up to the FIA cost car, something Alpine are no where near according to ex-boss Otmar Szafnaeur.
It was clear Sainz was now impatient with the delay while his advisors discussed matters with Briatore, who is a big beast in the paddock jungle, and any offer from him must be considered properly.
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When Lewis Hamilton revealed pre-season he was leaving Mercedes to drive for Ferrari next season, not one but two teams were left facing 24 races where one of their drivers was leaving the team and he would have little to lose if a team order was disobeyed.
Yet while team orders have been respected thus far, the inter team battles are hotting up. Prior to the Spanish Grand Prix, Hamilton was 8-1 down in qualifying and final race standings to George Russell but at one of Lewis favoured circuits in Barcelona, the pendulum shifted as Hamilton was ahead in qualifying and claimed a podium third in the race… READ MORE
