As has been written copious times before, Carlos Sainz is the cork in the bottle of the F1 driver market because he has offers to drive next year from three different outfits. Of course all three can’t acquire the services of the Spaniard, so at least two drivers are waiting on Sainz to make up his mind.

Carlos made an interesting comment over the weekend in Spa when he told journalists, “On the thinking side, I’m pretty calm. I know what I want and why I’m waiting.”

This could well imply that Sainz believes there is an opportunity outside of Sauber/Audi, Williams and Alpine about to emerge. If so then with no vacancies at Aston Martin, McLaren and Ferrari, this leaves either Mercedes or Red Bull as possibilities amongst the front running teams.

 

 

 

Mercedes winning makes Antonelli decision tougher

With Mercedes winning three of the last four races Toto Wolff’s previously implied position that rookie Kimi Antonelli will replace Lewis Hamilton doesn’t look so certain. If Mercedes continue on their upward trajectory will they not be contenders for titles in 2024?

If so they will surely opt for a driver with experience and for Sainz at this stage in his career, even a one year deal to prove himself alongside George Russell would be a chance worth taking.

Whilst Red Bull are in a pickle over the Sergio Perez problem of 21 points in eight race weekends, its unlikely they would try and prise Sainz away from Ferrari mid-season. Further, if Checo is dropped before the next race, its almost certain Daniel Ricciardo will step up to try his hand again alongside Max.

Of course if this fails, then Dr. Helmut Marko is waiting in line with his bank of superstar junior drivers led by Liam Lawson ready and waiting to join the ranks of Formula One.

Max and dad Jos disagree over future term mate

 

 

 

Sainz a ‘fan’ of James Vowles

Whether Mercedes come knocking for Carlos or not, the Ferrari driver was again assured this weekend that Williams boss James Vowels has “his heart is set” on recruiting the soon to be ex-Ferrari man to race alongside Alex Albon who recently secured a multi-year deal with the team. The “odds are in our favour” Vowles revealed in Belgium when asked where Carlos would likely end up.

Sainz too appeared to be focusing on Williams rather than Sauber/Audi or Alpine. “I think Williams have always been in a good place,” he responded. “So have the other teams,” he added quickly.

“Because, as you guys know, it’s not that I am limited in options. We will see.

“James has been very vocal about wanting me in Williams, and as you guys know I’m a big fan of his and his work ethic and the way he’s pushing that team forward.”

Sargeant SLAMS Ericsson for ‘false rumour’ 

 

 

 

Speculation rife options are closing

Speculation arose in certain quarters last week that Sainz if not careful could find himself out of options if the three teams currently interested decided to move on with another driver.

However, Sainz believes the various developments at management level with Alpine and Sauber/Audi have demonstrated that he’s been right to protract his decision.

In a nod to this back story, Sainz cleverly expressed his gratitude to them for hanging around. “It feels, yeah, a privilege to be so well-regarded by these teams,” he expressed. “To have such positive feedback from them.

“I feel almost honoured to have this positive will from these teams and I can only thank them for their patience and their willingness to sign me.

“But it’s been a very complex driver market, a very complex situation, and that’s why I’ve been having to wait and see how every team’s future was panning out.”

Hamilton blames Mercedes

 

 

 

More information gleaned by the week

Carlos went on to outline how from week to week he is learning something new about the teams he is considering committing his future too. 

“So even though I see some fans and some media getting impatient, saying ‘why is he waiting so long’, when you look at the market and when you look at each team, all the changes that have been in every team, it clearly shows that waiting was exactly the right thing to do – because the more I’ve been waiting, the more information I was getting from each team that I have opportunities to go to,” Carlos revealed.

“So I hope that you guys put that in value and appreciate why I’ve been waiting and why it’s been probably the right call to keep it for this long.”

James Vowles had implied Williams should have an announcement ready before the full summer shut down in Grove. Yet Carlos sees things differently as he heads for three weeks of no media intrusion.

Williams boss explains Sargeant replacement

 

 

 

Another summer break F1 surprise?

“What I look forward is to go to the summer break and not hear this question for three weeks,” he said when asked about his future.

“Because I’ve been hearing it every day for the last six months almost, and it gets to a point that if I’m not saying anything, it’s not like I’m going to tell you guys anything about it.”

He added: “On the thinking side, I’m pretty calm. I know what I want and why I’m waiting.”

The summer break is now upon us, but there will be debriefs to take place following the recent Grand Prix and team personnel returning from the continent to their bases. This time of year has seen dramatic announcements made in previous years.

Back in 2022, the first day into the summer break, Fernando Alonso announced he was leaving Alpine to replace the retiring Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin.

Mercedes ‘cheating?’ Russell DSQ

 

 

 

Marko suggests Perez ‘is out

Max Verstappen has now not won a Grand Prix in the last four outings, something which happened last in 2020, before the Dutch driver claimed his first worlds title. Having raced following penalties which saw Max start from P14 and P6 in the previous two Belgium Grand Prix, Verstappen was again forced to take penalties at the Spa circuit and started the race in P11.

The world champion driver made swift progress at the start of the race passing Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso within a couple of laps. Next up was Carlos Sainz who on the harder tyre appeared to struggle for pace and Max eventually passed the Spaniard.

Yet unlike in olden days where Verstappen would continue to slice through the field, George Russell proved to be an obstinate obstruction. After the race world champion admitted in the media pen: “You get stuck in that DRS train – and we weren’t fast enough anyway. I think we did the best we could, we were in a corner with the tyres but maybe if we’d had another hard tyre, maybe I could have taken one more position – I could have had Charles – but if you look at my first stint I was non seconds off the lead and it stayed there [for the rest of the race].”   READ MORE