With Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen set to be teammates at Red Bull until the end of 2018, Carlos Sainz finds himself with the prospect of at least two more years with the energy drinks organisation's second tier Toro Rosso team, a scenario which is unlikely to suit his F1 ambitions, but for now he says he is happy where he is.
Speaking ahead of the European Grand Prix, Sainz told NBCSN, “It’s true that in Red Bull the situation looks quite closed now. But we must keep thinking that Toro Rosso with a good power unit and one more year of experience and growing could be also in a good position. James Key is a brilliant engineer that is bringing the team up also.”
“We will see where we can be next year, obviously I don’t want at the moment to move from the Red Bull programme and from Toro Rosso and obviously Red Bull more in the future as it looks quite closed at the moment,” observed Sainz.
But added, “What I can say is that I’m very happy with how things have been going lately for me, very happy to keep growing inside Toro Rosso because we have been improving a lot.”
Verstappen's successful promotion to Red Bull has inadvertently played into the hands of Sainz who was always a match for the Dutch teenage sensation when they raced together for Toro Rosso. There was very little to separate the two, and many pundits even rated the Spaniard higher than Verstapppen.
As a result speculation has mounted over the past month, linking Sainz to both Ferrari and Renault for the 2017 season.
But Sainz is playing down such talk, “These things you are talking about are just rumours. My career has been guided by Red Bull and they’ve always taken the right decision for me.”
“Hopefully, when the time comes, after hopefully continuing a good run of races, they will take a decision regarding me and it’s the right one,” ventured the Spaniard who will be starting his 26th grand prix when he lines up on the grid in Baku.
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