The Formula 1 driver’s market is a volatile beast and every time that’s a season of unrest, ultimately some racers miss out on their ideal seats.
Going all the way back to the 1990s when Damon Hill had to settle for a season in an Arrows despite just winning his first and only Formula 1 title, no matter how quick you are, sometimes things just don’t work out.
Speaking on The Race Podcast, journalists Edd Straw and Ben Anderson are beginning to worry about one driver and where he might end up in 2025.
Drivers are starting to fall into place for next season after Fernando Alonso extended his contract at Aston Martin.
He’ll be with the team until at least the end of the 2026 season when they would have just completed their first campaign along Honda.
Max Verstappen could still trigger a flurry of moves if he makes the huge call to leave Red Bull, although that looks unlikely at this stage.
It leaves Carlos Sainz is a horrible position after losing his Ferrari seat to Lewis Hamilton.
He’s running out of options for next year and might have to look much further down the grid than he would like despite arguably being the second-fastest driver in F1 right now.
There’s one project that might work out for him in the long run, but he has been urged to take a gamble on another team in the bottom half of the standings.
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Carlos Sainz in a ‘horrible position’ in search for 2025 F1 seat
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur admitted that telling Carlos Sainz that he wasn’t being offered a new contract with the team was the second-hardest phone call he had to make, after revealing the news to Lewis Hamilton’s boss Toto Wolff.
The Spaniard was given a full year to find a new seat on the grid with Hamilton not arriving until the start of 2025, but that hasn’t made his job any easier.
Every team retained their driver line-up at the end of 2023 highlighting their reluctance to make unnecessary changes.
Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin are now all locked in for next year, while Mercedes doesn’t appear to be an option for the 29-year-old.
It means Sainz is in the horrible position of having to wait to see what Red Bull do but they’re in no rush to make a decision.
If they decide that Sergio Perez is the right teammate for Max Verstappen, then the Spaniard is suddenly looking a lot further down the grid.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory
Two real options remain for Carlos Sainz in 2025
Talking about the driver market, Anderson said: “I think the next trigger point has to be [Carlos] Sainz, he’s kind of the top free agent I think still on the market.”
Straw added: “He’s in a horrible position.”
Anderson then elaborated and said: “He’s driving brilliantly for Ferrari, so strengthening his case. I think he’s got two realistic options.
“He either holds on in the hope that Red Bull drops [Sergio] Perez and wants a stronger teammate to kind of insure them against the rising tide of Ferrari.
“They’ve got pretty much a super team of [Charles] Leclerc and [Lewis] Hamilton paired and coming on strong as a constructor. They will probably throw everything at 2025 to try and dethrone Red Bull in the hope that Red Bull kind of plateaus before the next rule change.
“That’s the best option for Sainz if he can get in, if Verstappen’s happy with it if Red Bull decides to drop Perez, how long can he hold on for that?
“If he can’t wait, then I think his best option is to take the Audi offer which seems pretty solid.
“It would be long-term, lucrative, he can have a project just like Fernando [Alonso] to build around him.”
Carlos Sainz now in a head-to-head battle with Sergio Perez
Audi are desperate to sign Carlos Sainz but their horrible position in the current standings as Sauber might be making the Spaniard slightly wary of putting pen to paper.
Therefore, Sainz’s best bet to stay near the front of the grid is to sign for Red Bull as Sergio Perez’s replacement.
The Mexican already has three 2-place finishes to his name in 2024 and the seat is very much his to lose.
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko believes his team have to consider Sainz for next year given how quick he’s been during the first quarter of the season.
He’s also Christian Horner’s preferred candidate should they decide to let Perez go but currently it looks like the Spaniard faces an agonising wait.
The post ‘In a horrible position’: 21-podium star now in a tough spot in the 2025 driver’s market – journalist appeared first on F1 Oversteer.