High Stakes: Sainz Eyes Mercedes Drive Amid Ferrari Exit
Apr.15 - Multiple authoritative Italian newspapers are all citing insider sources who believe Carlos Sainz is set to race for Mercedes in 2025.
What was just speculation last week is inching closer to reality, thanks to the reports in black and white at La Gazzetta dello Sport, Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica, and other Italian newspapers.
Some believe the Ferrari refugee's deal will be for one season only - a stop-gap so that Mercedes boss Toto Wolff's protege Kimi Antonelli can gain experience at Mercedes-powered Williams next year.
Others think a two-year contract - for 2025 and 2026 - is more likely, or at least an agreement with more open-ended 'options' beyond Sainz's first season in silver.
Insiders are not sure if it will be a good move for the on-form Spaniard.
"Mercedes is a long way off the pace," former Red Bull driver Robert Doornbos told Ziggo Sport. "Even (Fernando) Alonso indicated that he didn't want to sign there."
La Gazzetta dello Sport, however, is convinced that Sainz-to-Mercedes really is about to happen - with Audi-owned Sauber appearing to have been his only real alternative.
That Italian sports newspaper thinks Audi has instead kicked off talks with Alpine's disillusioned driver duo, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon.
Correspondent Luigi Perna thinks Antonelli will debut for Williams next year at the young age of 18, while Sergio Perez remains alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull.
As for Sainz-to-Mercedes, Germany's major Bild newspaper thinks a deal will not be announced "in the next few weeks".
No matter what happens, 29-year-old Sainz will remain at Ferrari for the rest of the 2024 season - where so far he has looked better than Charles Leclerc.
"I have to say that from last year, in the second part of the season, I saw incredible growth from Carlos," said former F1 driver Vitantonio Liuzzi.
"I didn't expect to see Leclerc under such pressure and in difficulty this year," he told Corriere dello Sport, "but he is suffering from Sainz's performances.
"Next year, he (Leclerc) will have Lewis Hamilton next to him, so I hope Charles can find himself again. He will be fundamental for the balance of the reds."
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So many contradicting thoughts & claims that demonstrate why people should never take stuff from third-party news outlets for granted.
Sainz to Mercedes is merely a possibility for now rather than a guarantee, & I still view Team Hinwill as his most likely option.
Bruno Famin has said both drivers are happy at Alpine despite struggles, so while Team Hinwill is a possibility, for the time being, I still expect both to continue.
Antonelli would again be better off continuing in F2 for another year, & people should especially stop thinking about Williams because they don't exist to serve others, & Sargeant is still in their long-term plans, given they've invested into his career from a certain point, so they wouldn't replace him for the sake of replacing.
Even if they were to let him go, they'd more likely offer someone with vast experience like Bottas rather than go for a temporary rookie with whom they'd risk excessively getting held back due to his limited single-seater experience & thus possibly limited readiness to compete in F1, which wouldn't benefit them at all, so with a tight midfield, they can't really afford such a one-sided scenario on the driver front, as they had with Latifi in 2022.
Williams--Bottas to Merc, Williams---Russel to Merc, Torger still an investor till 2016 and Torgers pal is now the Ceo, id say theirs a lot of connection between the two, maybe im wrong though and your right, as for Latifi in 2022, thats what we have with LS in 24 isnt it...Famin can say what he likes,id be pretty sure both drivers arent happy regardless of what he says, how can they be? Again just an opinion, Time will tell...
Well, LS has performed relatively better this whole time since the post-2022 driver change, so not quite the same situation, not to mention even AA hasn't performed as well this year as he did in the last two, which minimizes the former's contribution to the team's overall situation.
Famin certainly can say what he likes, & yes, time will tell, but I trust his words since he knows the team's situation internally.
Thought Hulkenberg was a cert for Audi
Only a possibility at this point, but a viable option, depending on how much Audi wants a certain nationality driver in the short-term.