Carlos Sainz says he hasn’t turned down any offer as yet whether Audi or otherwise, as he adds on his F1 future and whereabouts.
After the announcement from Audi and even Sauber Motorsport regarding the signing of Nico Hulkenberg, the rumours around the second seat started to heat up with the likes of Sainz, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu and few others in the fray.
The biggest name remained Sainz and stories started to float that the Spaniard had rejected an offer from Audi to join them from 2025 onward. But he outright denied having turned down, while adding that there is still time for any decision to be made.
“No, that’s not correct, there is no truth about it, nothing to add,” said Sainz when asked about turning down the offer. “As I’ve said before, there are certain things that they don’t depend fully on myself and there’s going to be some waiting to be done. But, in the meantime, is not like I’m, or we are, completely stopped.
“We are still in conversations with people and advancing what we can advance, but all those things always including the waiting that, as I said before, we’re going to need to do, for people to make up their minds in many areas,” summed up Sainz, who praised the signing of Hulkenberg but didn’t pin pointed about assurances for himself.
If he signs with Audi and or any other team with both Mercedes and Red Bull also on the list, Sainz has some basic expectations as any driver does. “No, the only assurance that I have is from myself that I want to make the right decision,” he said, when asked if he has assurance that Audi will wait for him to take his call.
“That’s why it’s also taken a bit longer, and that’s why I want to see all the options available before taking any fundamental decision. I think Nico joining Audi makes complete sense for them and for Nico, and I think he’s a great driver. I’ve managed to see his talents – he’s a great signing for them.
“I congratulate them and him because he’s been doing great at Haas lately too. As for expectations, I think like any other employee in any other company, just the full support, full backing of the company. I just need to extract the best out of myself. A good medium-term project that allows me to focus on not only the today and now, but also on the medium-term future.
“Just good people all around me and I think any of those teams mentioned are good options for that and that’s why you need to keep all the options open for the moment,” summed up Sainz. While the Spaniard will kick-start a new journey if he joins Audi, but his family is no stranger to the German manufacturer.
His father has had his time with Audi, winning the 2024 Dakar Rally, but has since moved onto Ford for 2025. But whatever time spent, the Spaniard has good words for the German manufacturer. “For sure, my Dad, you will always say good things about Audi, the project, and how confident he is that Audi will make it to the top in Formula 1,” said Sainz.
“If you follow the Volkswagen projects, every time they’ve been involved in motorsports – doesn’t matter if it’s with Porsche, with Audi or any of the Volkswagen Group – they’ve managed to win, and I think that’s a very important asset and something very important to consider.
“But in my decision, and obviously in everything, there are a lot more factors involved. I really hope Audi in the future can fight for wins because it would just mean one more car fighting for wins, and a massive brand like they are, and I wish them the best without even having decided if that’s a possibility for me or not,” summed up Sainz.
Sauber/Audi CEO Andreas Seidl hasn’t directly named the Spaniard though while taking the names of both Bottas and Guanyu. But the German has clarified that they are in no hurry to fix upon the second driver just yet, giving time to not only themselves but the drivers too in the process.
“We are talking with Valtteri and Zhou and keep monitoring their performance,” said Seidl to F1 website. “We are grateful for what they have done and are still doing for Kick Sauber. At the same time, we are out in the market, to have all options ready once we want to make a decision later in the year.
“The driver market is difficult to predict at the moment. Having Nico nailed down, there is no specific rush to fix the second seat. We prefer to monitoring the performance of our drivers and the others we are looking – and then make the best decision.”
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