Max Verstappen will not allow a driver like Carlos Sainz to join the Red Bull team that is “tangled in his finger”, says BBC F1 commentator Harry Benjamin.
While Verstappen’s current teammate Sergio Perez has enjoyed an impressive start to the 2024 F1 campaign, following Verstappen on the finish line with 3 Red Bull one-two finishes in 4 races, the team is in no hurry to make a decision on whether the driver has plans for 2025, so Perez can’t give up on his project of getting a new contract.
Perez will also have to be aware of the risk posed by Sainz, the former member of Red Bull’s driver programme who has primarily inspired his final season at Ferrari, having claimed a dominant victory in Australia and two other podiums. Lewis Hamilton’s imminent move to Ferrari means Sainz is looking for a new home on the F1 grid.
However, speaking on the Checkered Flag podcast, before Red Bull-linked Fernando Alonso signed a new deal with Aston Martin, Benjamin cast doubt on the chances of Alonso or Sainz being allowed to sign up for Red Bull.
While Benjamin claims that the Red Bull team is solidly built around Verstappen, he believes that the three-time world champion would feel “problems” with any of the Spaniards and will not allow Red Bull to make Sainz his teammate in 2025.
The 2024 Max Verstappen F1 Drivers’ Championship standings
Revealed: 2024 Red Bull F1 Constructors’ Championship
“We would all like to see two drivers go head-to-head, [Ayrton] Senna, [Alain] in ProstArray and even [Nico] Rosberg in Hamilton more recently,” Benjamin said.
“It puts other people on the edge of their seats and pushes the drivers and groups to the max. You get brilliant runs and an explanation of why you log in week in and week out and want to, especially as you climb more and more races throughout the season. .
“The challenge is that Alonso and Carlos Sainz are also on the market, are you going to put them alongside Verstappen?Will Verstappen stay at this team? Because if he stays in this team, he has a contract, he has his star driver.
“Everything they do is for him and for his benefit. He’s that team, he’s got it around his finger. And the strength he and his father, Jos Verstappen, have is enormous.
“If you have to put Carlos Sainz or Fernando Alonso up, I don’t think either of the engines will have to settle for what Sergio Perez has done and that number two engine. They’re too smart to be a number. ” In my opinion, two driving forces.
“But they will cause problems. Alonso definitely, Sainz, and don’t forget, he has a great personality, with his father Carlos Sainz Sr.
“Sainz and Verstappen were teammates at Toro Rosso when they came to Formula 1 together, and there was a fireworks display between them, and that’s when they were racing in ninth and tenth place. What will happen if they end up competing for the championship?
“I don’t think Verstappen would allow the more sensible driver to occupy that second seat.
Verstappen is aiming for his fourth consecutive F1 name in 2024, which would put him on par with Sebastian Vettel’s name with Red Bull between 2010 and 2013.
Read next: More Red Bull revelations as driver ‘was’ introduced to Sergio Perez’s race seat