Red Bull Racing are facing their most turbulent season since joining Formula 1 20 years ago.
Christian Horner was in charge at Red Bull’s first race on the grid in Australia in 2005, but lost his job after the British Grand Prix.
Horner lost the backing of the Thai owners, and with the Austrian side of the Red Bull business looking to go in a new direction, Laurent Mekies was appointed.
However, the underlying issue throughout this season has been the threat of Max Verstappen potentially moving on.
Verstappen has won four drivers’ championships on the bounce; however, it was evident last year that Red Bull were losing their place at the top of the sport.
This year has confirmed those fears, with the Dutchman nearly 100 points behind leader Oscar Piastri.
Verstappen was heavily linked with joining Mercedes, and in case he moved on, Horner needed a backup plan.
He was eyeing two drivers in particular, but journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm believes Horner was hatching a ‘very aggressive’ plan to steal Carlos Sainz from Williams.
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Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty ImagesChristian Horner hatched ‘very aggressive’ plan to sign Carlos Sainz if Max Verstappen left Red Bull
Mitchell-Malm was speaking on The Race F1 Podcast about Red Bull’s driver plans and said: “I know that the one place where Sainz was on the radar was Christian Horner’s Red Bull.
“I believe that Sainz was part of a very, very aggressive sort of Verstappen plan B, basically, that Horner quite liked the idea of.
“Which was, well, if Verstappen’s gone, you’ve got a load of money and you’ve got no potential tension or anything like that to worry about.
Photo by Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Images
“I mean, the idea of them paying a load of money to extract Carlos Sainz, who they could have got for free last year, not for free, but, he was a free agent, they had to pay him a salary, of course.
“Go after Sainz and George Russell, because obviously Verstappen, if he left Red Bull, he’d going to Mercedes. So I feel like Sainz was on the Red Bull radar.”
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Carlos Sainz makes decision on Williams contract exit clause after tricky 2025 season
Sainz was one of the stars of the 2024 F1 season, despite knowing throughout the campaign that he was about to be replaced by Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari.
His victory at the Mexico City Grand Prix was imperious, dominating qualifying and navigating Verstappen with ease to take the fourth win and 27th podium of his Formula 1 career.
Sainz has struggled at times since joining Williams, and while there have been moments of brilliance, he’s currently 38 points behind teammate Alex Albon.
Team principal James Vowles was delighted to secure the Spaniard’s signature when he also had interest from Alpine and Sauber, and will still have full faith in the 30-year-old.
2026 confirmed F1 drivers
However, Guenther Steiner believes Sainz might regret not joining Sauber, and there was theoretically a way out for him if he decided he didn’t want to continue with the Grove-based team.
Sainz had an exit clause in his Williams contract, but with no better options to choose from on the grid, he looks set to stay put in 2026.
Hopes will be high at Williams that they can nail the new regulations, given how much time and energy they’ve committed to it.
If they’re still stuck in F1’s midfield, then Sainz might reach out to Red Bull should Verstappen consider his future again.