Sainz to Renault no longer on the cards for 2017

Carlos Sainz was indeed on the Renault shopping list according to Red Bull team chief Christian Horner, but he believes that the Spaniard is best served staying at Toro Rosso for 2017.

Asked by Sky Sports if the Sainz to Renault deal was on the table, Horner replied, "I think they’ve given up on that. I think some free watches/engines wasn’t going to happen. And why would we?"

"He’s on a long term agreement with Red Bull, we’ve got him in the junior team, within Toro Rosso. At the moment you wouldn’t say being in a Renault was a better bet than being in a Toro Rosso, and we have immediate access to him should we need it."

"So having invested in him, having funded him through his junior career, put him in the junior team now at Toro Rosso, it doesn’t make sense for us to release him to Renault," added Horner.