Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner isn’t used to seeing a podium where neither of his drivers feature.
It only happened once in 2023, when both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez missed out in Singapore.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the race, Horner praised one driver outside of the Red Bull group for their performance in Australia.
The racing on that occasion in Marina Bay was exhilarating and shared a few similarities with Sunday’s race in Melbourne.
George Russell ended up having a late accident while chasing down the car in front, Lando Norris was on the podium and Carlos Sainz took the chequered flag.
Sainz was sensational in Australia and Horner was quick to praise the £180,000-a-week driver which might be bad news for Sergio Perez…
Christian Horner praises Carlos Sainz after F1 win in Australia
There’s already so much speculation about what the Formula 1 grid might look like in 2025.
With more than half of the current grid out of contract in 21 races time, drivers are racing for their careers every other weekend at the moment.
There are several stars – such as Daniel Ricciardo and the carless Logan Sargeant – that don’t appear to be in a particularly strong position at the moment.
However, despite being the only man who knows he’s definitely moving on at the end of the year, Carlos Sainz could end up with his pick of the available seats on the grid.
Martin Brundle suggested on commentary that Mercedes should be considering a move for the three-time race winner.
Audi are big fans of his too, but they’re not an attractive outfit right now under their current guise of Sauber.
Sainz has previously been linked with a move to Red Bull with Sergio Perez under pressure and Horner enjoyed his performance in Australia on Sunday.
His previous connection with Toro Rosso means the team will know what they’re getting from Sainz if they do hire him.
Although there have been recent suggestions that Sainz might consider battling Verstappen as his teammate a poor career choice at this stage.
Sainz impresses Red Bull chief as he searches for F1 race seat
Talking about the race, Horner said: “I have to congratulate Carlos Sainz today after going through surgery.
“What a great performance by him and of course the Ferrari team today.”
While Carlos Sainz had one of his best weekends in Formula 1, it was another race to forget for Sergio Perez.
There was nothing Max Verstappen could do about his brakes failing at the start of the race, but the role of the second driver at Red Bull is to pick up the pieces when the Dutchman fails.
While that’s not a very common occurrence, Perez was nowhere near where he needed to be to capitalise on his teammate’s misfortune.
A three-place grid penalty for obstructing Nico Hulkenberg in qualifying didn’t help matters, although the team must take part of the blame for that as they failed to inform him of the German’s hot lap until the very last moment.
However, this result still raises question marks about Perez and whether he’s the right man to partner with Verstappen in the future.
Despite his strong performances and six points for RB, Yuki Tsunoda isn’t in consideration for the drive, while Daniel Ricciardo is having a torrid time.
Horner might have to look outside Red Bull once again to find Verstappen’s next teammate and after his fantastic performance in Australia, Sainz has once again shown he’s a very viable candidate.
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