Formula 1 icon Mario Andretti believes Carlos Sainz is ‘world championship material’ amid Red Bull chief Christian Horner targeting the axed Ferrari driver for a 2025 seat.
The 29-year-old is currently without a drive for next year after the Scuderia elected against a new contract. Ferrari decided to sign Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes over giving Sainz a deal to remain in Maranello. His existing terms were already due to expire after the 2024 season.
Sainz has raced in red since leaving McLaren to replace Sebastian Vettel as Charles Leclerc’s teammate in 2021. The Spaniard has since secured all three of his Grand Prix wins, including last week’s Australian GP. Sainz also won the 2022 British GP and the Singapore GP in 2023.
Mario Andretti thinks Carlos Sainz can be an F1 champion
His victory in Melbourne last Sunday marked Sainz’s first Grand Prix win without starting on pole position, too. He took full advantage of Max Verstappen retiring after a brake problem to record, potentially, his most comfortable win yet after fighting at Silverstone and Marina Bay.
Now, 1978 F1 champion and former Ferrari driver, Andretti, has backed Sainz as title-calibre talent. The Italian-American firmly believes he has the skills to win it all in Formula 1 and will add to last Sunday’s victory in Melbourne. Sainz has been on the Grand Prix grid since 2015.
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Andretti told Gazzetta dello Sport: “I’ve always said that both [Sainz] and Leclerc are drivers who can take wins and championships. They [are] both from world championship material. We have seen that again now in Australia and we will continue to see that in the future.”
Carlos Sainz is an option to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull
Sainz has also earned his five career pole positions with Ferrari, after starting from P1 at the Belgian GP and the United States GP in 2022 and the Italian GP in 2023. The Madrid native’s Scuderia career has also yielded 18 of his 20 podiums after earning two while with McLaren.
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Now, Ferrari deciding to drop Sainz could open a door to join Verstappen at Red Bull in 2025. Edd Straw of The Race reports that the Red Bull product is on the team’s list of replacements for Sergio Perez. The Mexican is one of several Formula 1 drivers out of contract after 2024.
Team principal Horner is also a bit more keen on Sainz replacing Perez in 2025 than Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko is currently. Marko has previously stated that Verstappen and Sainz’s relationship was ‘quite toxic’ as teammates with Toro Rosso for the 2015 season.
Red Bull placed Verstappen and Sainz in Faenza together for their rookie seasons, before the team promoted the former to replace Daniil Kvyat after 23 races. Now, The Race also reports that Sainz’s camp fears Verstappen could block a move to Red Bull to replace Perez in 2025.
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