Sky F1 commentator Martin Brundle has a theory as to why Red Bull opted against signing Carlos Sainz alongside Max Verstappen. The Spaniard became a free agent on the driver market this season, but a reunion with former employers Red Bull didn’t materialise despite driver concerns within their squads. Martin Brundle: Carlos Sainz brings a really good work ethicSainz scored his second victory of F1 2024 by taking the win in Mexico City last weekend, holding off the pursuit of McLaren’s Lando Norris in the closing stages.

With the end of the season hoving into view, it may well be Sainz’s last win for Ferrari as he departs the Scuderia at the end of this season – Ferrari having made the choice to part ways with Sainz in order to bring Lewis Hamilton into the fold alongside Charles Leclerc next season. Sainz was a free agent on the driver market for the first half of the year, and took his time to talk with anyone who expressed an interest in securing his services. Mercedes, who had a free cockpit, quickly dropped off the radar, while Red Bull never seemed to be a serious option for Sainz despite his history with the organisation.

Sainz, prior to F1, was a Red Bull junior driver and arrived into the sport with the then-Toro Rosso team as a teammate of Max Verstappen in 2015. He spent several seasons with the squad before moving to Renault, severing the Red Bull connection, while Verstappen had moved up to Red Bull Racing by mid-2016. Sainz eventually found a new home with the Williams squad for F1 2025, meaning a likely end to his recent successes as the Grove-based squad is not currently in a position to fight for podiums and wins.

Speaking about Sainz’s future on the Sky F1 broadcast of the Mexico City Grand Prix, former F1 driver Martin Brundle said Sainz has handled what has been a tough year for him off-track with aplomb. Sainz has never been critical or showed annoyance with Ferrari’s decision to part ways with him, and has spoken of his understanding that Ferrari couldn’t turn down the opportunity. With Sainz taking a step back in terms of competitiveness at a time when he is reaching his personal peak as a professional athlete, he also hasn’t bemoaned his lot in life – something Brundle pointed out has been noticed by every team.

“I remember doing an interview with him and saying, ‘You never know, you might be back at Ferrari yet’! ” Brundle said. “And he said ‘Exactly!

’“The other teams have been watching and looking and being impressed as well with just how he’s handling this and how mature and how fast he’s been, and that’s why he’s had the opportunity to talk to pretty much every team who has got a spare space on the grid, or had a spare space on the grid next year, because they’re all interested in him. “He’s a world-class driver, and he brings a really good work ethic too. ”More on Red Bull in F1👉 All the mid-season driver swaps Red Bull have made in their F1 history👉 Where are they now?

All 12 Red Bull drivers in the team’s 20-year historyRed Bull may not technically have a vacant cockpit as Sergio Perez remains under contract until the end of F1 2026, but the Milton Keynes-based squad’s evaluations of its options mid-season as the possibility of Daniel Ricciardo or Liam Lawson slotting in alongside Max Verstappen was looked at seemed to open the door of possibility for bringing back Sainz into the fold. Given his form and consistency, and ability to keep Charles Leclerc fully on his toes, Sainz appeared the ideal signing for Red Bull for 2025 – but it never materialised. Brundle has a suspicion that the relationships of Verstappen and Sainz’s fathers, Jos and Carlos Snr.

, played a role in him not getting a slot. “Red Bull are sort of on the back foot, despite being the only team with, effectively, a junior team on the grid in VCARB,” Brundle said. “But I think it goes back to when they were teammates, Max and Carlos, and the two drivers and the two dads, it was all pretty feisty, and I think that was the impediment from going back there.

”With Sainz’s future now laid out with Williams as James Vowles intends to bring the former F1 giant back to the front, Brundle said the problem for Sainz will be the fact he has already achieved what every driver dreams of in securing a top drive with the most historic and successful teams on the grid. “It depends on how good the car is, of course,” he said, when asked how Sainz will fare alongside Alex Albon, “and they’re still in the transition phase to head back towards the sharp end of the grid. “But the problem for Carlos is he already has his dream drive.

He’s a young, fast Ferrari driver. What more could you want? So he’s losing his dream position.

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