Carlos Sainz sends message to Red Bull as Max Verstappen ‘rivalry’ addressed

Carlos Sainz is perplexed that people don’t want to see him partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull, given they not only get on well, but their rivalry at Toro Rosso was a “relatively healthy” one.

Helmut Marko, though, previously called it “toxic.”

Toxic relationship? Not according to Carlos Sainz

Last season, as Sainz sought a new team after being dropped by Ferrari in favour of signing Lewis Hamilton, the Spaniard was linked to Red Bull amongst other top teams.

Nothing came of it, with the team instead re-signing Sergio Perez only to part ways with the Mexican at the end of the season and put Liam Lawson in the car.

Lawson’s Red Bull stint lasted all of two races before he was dropped and replaced by Yuki Tsunoda. But even the more experienced Japanese driver hasn’t been able to get the job done in the second RB21, scoring just seven points in ten races.

In the meantime, Sainz signed a multi-year contract with Williams, and while he has found the adjustment from Ferrari to Williams a bit tough, he’s outscored Tsunoda with 13 points.

Sainz said at the time that he knew why he was snubbed, but he’d keep that to himself.

F1 contracts: Made to be broken?

? Revealed: The six drivers out of contract at the end of the F1 2025 season

? F1 2026 driver line-up: Lewis Hamilton and other drivers already confirmed for 2026

“I’ve come to my own conclusions. But I’ll keep them to myself,” he said. “I believe the people in F1 know perfectly well why certain choices are made – I don’t need to explain it in front of a microphone.”

Marko, however, gave a firm hint as to why when he called Sainz and Verstappen’s relationship “toxic” during their time as team-mates.

Sainz made his debut alongside Verstappen at Toro Rosso (now Racing Bulls) in 2015 before the latter was promoted to the senior squad after just four races of the 2016 campaign.

It was widely reported at the time that tensions between the Verstappen and Sainz camps were high as both youngsters fought to catch Red Bull’s attention, their fathers – rally champion Carlos Sainz and former F1 driver Jos Verstappen – not helping to calm the situation.

“The atmosphere between the two at Toro Rosso was quite toxic,” Marko, Red Bull motorsport advisor, said. “In the setup we had at the time, I couldn’t see a way of keeping him with us and so he moved to Renault, McLaren and then on to Ferrari.”

“Sainz was almost at the same level as Max Verstappen… almost,” he added. “But when we had to choose between Max and Carlos, it was clear what we should do.”

But that was 10 years ago.

Given his relationship with Verstappen today, with Sainz saying they get on well, the Spaniard is perplexed that Red Bull still won’t give him a chance alongside the four-time World Champion.

“The only thing I could say is that I genuinely get on well with Max,” he said on the High Performance podcast. “This is what people don’t see from the outside.

“We had a rivalry in our first year in Formula 1 at Toro Rosso, but it was a relatively healthy rivalry in terms of how we used to go about racing. And now we get on really well.

“If that’s the reason, I don’t understand why they wouldn’t want me next to Max, because I think we would actually be a very strong pairing in Formula 1.”

Red Bull hasn’t had a strong pairing since Daniel Ricciardo left at the end of the F1 2018 season. Burning through Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, there were moments of success with Perez before he dropped the ball, with Lawson and then Tsunoda taking over.

It has meant that today Red Bull is only fourth in the Constructors’ Championship with 172 points, 165 of those scored by Verstappen.

Read next: Max Verstappen set out key Mercedes requirement in Toto Wolff talks