Bold Carlos Sainz claim made as Mercedes and Red Bull snub a ‘top four’ driver

Williams team principal James Vowles admitted bring “surprised” that Red Bull and Mercedes did not sign Carlos Sainz for next season, with Vowles considering him among the top four drivers in Formula 1.

Sainz was confirmed as a Williams driver on a multi-year contract earlier this week as the long-running talk over his future came to an end, putting an end to speculation over where he will be driving when he leaves Ferrari.

Carlos Sainz labelled ‘top four’ F1 driver by Williams team boss

Mercedes have one seat available next season as the one vacated by Lewis Hamilton remains uncontracted, with the seven-time World Champion moving to take Sainz’s current Ferrari cockpit in 2025, while the scrutiny surrounding Sergio Perez at Red Bull has led to questions over who may take his place at the team, if Red Bull change drivers.

Vowles said he would have put the Spanish driver alongside Max Verstappen, given the choice, and while he admitted the choice facing his former team Mercedes is a tough one, the fact Sainz remained on the market when top seats were available came as a shock, given how highly he rates him.

When asked if he was surprised Sainz wasn’t signed by Mercedes or Red Bull , Vowles told media including PlanetF1.com: “Yes, is the short answer to it, because I rate him as one of the top four drivers, if not, at times the number two driver on the grid. Why wouldn’t you want that in your stable?

“Because my view of things is that, fundamentally, competitors are getting closer and closer.

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“So the marginal difference that a driver can make – and I don’t just mean in performance terms – look at Carlos and look at every team he has been in, they have improved significantly. And I get why, after spending the last nine months talking to him at least weekly, if not daily, in truth.

“But what I’ve realised with him is that he is a performance machine, he absolutely will do everything it takes within his power to not transform just himself, but the team around him as well at the same time, and that’s powerful.

“That’s worth more than what he can drive the car at…you move the team forward by the same amount.

“So when you’re in Red Bull’s position where you’ve got a Constructors’ Championship at risk, it’s always a hard decision. But yes, I would have Carlos alongside Max.

“If you were in Mercedes, it’s a hard choice. But I think you know, they’ve swayed between not being competitive, in which case it makes sense to invest in the future, to being very competitive, now it’s a harder decision as to whether you invest in known entities or unknown.

“But that said, if Mercedes have made that decision, they have far more information than I do.

“It’s more than likely that they’re very confident with the direction that they’ll be travelling in, whether that’ll be Max [Verstappen] or Kimi [Antonelli], I’m unsure, but my point is they’re not fools.

“They’ve made this decision sensibly and if Red Bull have decided to do this, again, there’s reasons behind it that I won’t be aware of because they are multiple World Champions, so they don’t make decisions lightly. But I was surprised, to answer your question.”

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