Carlos Sainz is the key figure in the Formula 1 driver market for 2025. The Spaniard currently has the choice between three different F1 teams. The other dominoes only seem to fall after that of the current Ferrari driver.
But choosing between Alpine, Williams and Audi-Sauber is not an easy choice for Sainz. Especially because none of the teams is currently on course to take on a role as a top team. The hunt for the best possible contract led him into the depths of Formula 1 politics, as Sainz noted: “The situation I find myself in this year has taught me a lot about how Formula 1 works.”
Carlos Sainz looking for a contract: I have learned a lot about Formula 1 politics
“By talking a lot with teams, I was shown how tough this sport is. How little you can sometimes believe what people say at the beginning of negotiations. How little you can sometimes trust someone in the paddock. Formula 1 is a very political sport,” said Sainz. Understandably, he did not want to divulge details about who he was referring to with these statements.
Nevertheless, Sainz currently has the upper hand among the available teams. The three-time Grand Prix winner explained on what basis he will make his decision. The current results and the short-term current performance are only a small part of how he will answer a question from Motorsport-Magazin.com said: “I try to avoid looking at the teams’ performance race by race.”
Carlos Sainz: These are the factors I will use to choose my next Formula 1 team
“I want to focus on the project and on the feeling that the people I talk to and the feeling that the team gives me. Of course, we also look at the contracts,” Sainz said, listing the priorities. Given the major rule changes in two years, the line-up of the teams is probably about the long-term perspective. In 2025, none of the teams with which Sainz is in the running for a Formula 1 cockpit will most likely be able to fight for victories.
Sainz is therefore playing for time and does not want to make any hasty decisions. Especially with the Formula 1 calendar currently so tightly packed. “I do not want to make this very important decision in my life in the middle of this triple header, I would like to take a little more time for that.”
Playing for time: When will the contract decision be made?
“I would like to go home and make the decision together with my [Management]team with all options on the table in front of me,” said Sainz. In recent weeks, the 29-year-old has repeatedly hinted that a contract signing could be imminent.
He backtracked on this before the Austrian GP. “I want to give myself the time I need, even though I know that the sooner the decision is made, the better.” He doesn’t want to communicate a specific deadline. “I won’t give a date because it could change at any time,” Sainz clarified.
In contrast to Carlos Sainz, Pierre Gasly has already made a decision. The Alpine driver will stay with the French team in 2025. Everything about his contract extension: