Montoya reveals the driver Red Bull should be really signing for F1 2025

Red Bull are chasing the wrong Williams signing, Juan Pablo Montoya adamant they should be after Carlos Sainz and not Franco Colapinto.

Although Red Bull signed Sergio Perez to a new two-year deal in May, a one-plus-one contract, they are questioning that decision in light of his failure to recover from his slump.

‘If I was the boss at Red Bull, I would go for Carlos and not Colapinto’

Additional reporting by Pablo Hidalgo

Last year Perez went through a bad qualifying patch but was able to pull himself out of it. This year though, it’s not just qualifying where he’s lacking, it’s his overall pace.

He hasn’t reached the podium in the last 16 races, recording just two top-six results in that time, and also remains the only driver racing for one of the top four teams who doesn’t have a single win to his name.

Down in eighth place in the Drivers’ Championship where he has 151 points to Max Verstappen’s 393, Perez’s form is also hurting Red Bull in the Constructors’ standings as they trail the two-scoring McLaren and Ferrari teams.

Red Bull are looking at their options.

The team brought reserve driver Liam Lawson back after the Singapore Grand Prix and handed the New Zealander a six-race audition with VCARB, but now Colapinto has also entered the chat.

The Williams rookie has impressed in his six races with the team, scoring five points while his much-lauded team-mate Alex Albon has brought in eight.

It has F1’s rumour mill suggesting that instead of Lawson to Red Bull and Colapinto to VCARB, Red Bull could put the Argentinean driver in the RB21 alongside Max Verstappen and Lawson in the VCARB.

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But according to Montoya, Red Bull are chasing the wrong Williams signing and should rather offer the Grove team money for Sainz than the reported $20m price tag for Colapinto.

“If I were Christian Horner, Red Bull’s team boss,” he said in an interview with W Radio Colombia, “I would go to the Williams’ motorhome and say to them, ‘Hey, if you guys are happy with Colapinto keep him and leave Sainz to me’.

“Why would you take the risk of replacing an experienced driver like Checo who has won races and with so many years in F1 with a rookie against Max?

“A rookie against Albon is tough. Albon has always had a fast team-mate and he has had accidents and made mistakes and he still does.

“Max doesn’t make mistakes. He never makes a mistake. It’s a tough decision.

“I don’t know, but I would say, knowing Carlos, that he would say to Williams: ‘I’ll sign with you but if we are not winning or doing podiums every year, if someone offers me something interesting I want to leave’.

“Then Red Bull could say to them: ‘Look, you are going to lose Carlos now or in a year’s time. He leaves now and leaves you some money or he leaves next year with no money’.

“This is the move I would make if I were the boss of Red Bull, I would go for Carlos and not Colapinto.”

When Sainz signed with Williams it was claimed – but denied by the team – that his contract included a clause that would allow him to leave the team if he was offered a race seat with one of F1’s top teams.

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