Paul Jeffrey
Premium
Helmut Marko, never a man backwards in coming forward, has branded the rumoured veto from Max Verstappen for Carlos Sainz joining Red Bull as "bullshit".
Verstappen and Sainz have something of a fractured relationship following an often turbulent partnership at Red Bull junior outfit Toro Rosso, often butting heads as the two young chargers looked to make a name for themselves in the early stages of their careers in Formula One.
With Red Bull eventually overlooking the Spanish star in favour of Verstappen as replacement for the mid season sacking of Daniil Kvyatt in 2016, Sainz would grow tired of life in the junior outfit and branch out to Renault for 2018, racing under loan conditions from the Austrian squad as the Spaniard pushed on with reenergising a career seemingly in freefall despite such a promising start to life in Grand Prix racing.
Now that Ricciardo has confirmed a move away from Red Bull for next season, ironically replacing Sainz at the French team, his former team find themselves looking around for a suitable replacement for the outgoing Australian.. giving Sainz another opportunity at the big time with Red Bull, but again placing him alongside rival Verstappen in the same team.
With many in Formula One suspecting that Verstappen would be less than pleased at reuniting with his former team mate, the rumour in recent days has been that the 20-year-old Dutchman has a veto against Red Bull taking on Sainz for next season, something that Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko spoke out in his usual brusque style to play down ahead of a decision by the Austrian team:
Marko told El Confidencial, “Daniel called me on Thursday to inform me about the decision to leave the team at the end of the season. He spent most of his career at Red Bull and told me he wanted a change.”
“Now we will have to think about who will be Max’s teammate. The rumours that point to the veto of Verstappen of Sainz, are bullshit. Red Bull is the only one that decides on its driver pairing,”
Either Sainz or current Toro Rosso junior Pierre Gasly remain the most realistic options for Red Bull in 2019, with no current junior driver on the Red Bull books either experienced or qualified enough to make the step up Formula One as early as next season. Sainz is by far the more experienced of the two drivers, something that could be a benefit for the team as they take on Honda power for the first time in the new season, although potential candidates from outside of the Red Bull driver pool still remain under consideration prior to the expected decision in the coming weeks.“Now we will have to think about who will be Max’s teammate. The rumours that point to the veto of Verstappen of Sainz, are bullshit. Red Bull is the only one that decides on its driver pairing,”
The question is, who do you think is more suited to the second Red Bull drive next year?
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