Sainz: Max made me be a better driver

Verstappen and Sainz made their Formula 1 debuts at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix for Toro Rosso. The pair were mostly evenly matched but the Dutchman appeared to have the edge and was rewarded with a promotion to the Red Bull senior team earlier than expected - at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix to be precise - and the rest is now history.

Since then Sainz was farmed out to Renault and when Daniel Ricciardo's seat became available at the energy drinks stable he was told it was not for him, but rather for Pierre Gasly. The Spaniard then signed for McLaren.

In a podcast interview, Sainz revealed of his time as Verstappen's teammate, “Everyone thinks we hated each other, but that certainly is not true. Fans always asked about our relationship, even my own friends asked about it."

“We had a lot of fun next to the job and we went much better together than people think. We were incredibly competitive on the track because we knew we were competing for our careers.”

"For me, there is no doubt that he is one of the most talented drivers. He lifted me to a higher level and he made me a better driver,” admitted Sainz.

Some reports claimed Verstappen was against Sainz's move to Red Bull, but the Renault driver doubts it, “I don’t know, but I would say no. I don’t think drivers really have an effect on that."

“It is a very difficult question you could ask him, but I think as we got on well and we have a rivalry of course, I wouldn’t think he would go to Helmut or to Christian and say: No I don’t want Carlos."

“First of all, because the moment you say that, you sound weak, if you to go a team boss and say I don’t want him as a teammate, you already sound weak."

"Secondly, I don’t think he ever really said that,” insisted the Spaniard who will race a final time for Renault at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix before setting up office at Woking.