Helmut Marko has shed light on Audi’s offer to Carlos Sainz which has reportedly been extended to the Spaniard.
Ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, Red Bull’s advisor has revealed that he is aware of an offer that has allegedly been made to Carlos Sainz as the Ferrari driver tries to find a chosen project for 2025.
Sainz has been in the drivers’ market lately and is looking to find a new team to race with, following Ferrari’s decision to join him at the end of 2024 to sign Lewis Hamilton.
One of the teams it is strongly linked with is Audi, as the German manufacturer will arrive in F1 in 2026 following the acquisition of the Sauber team.
Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas have been racing for the Swiss team lately, but neither is showing up beyond the end of this season. On Friday, Sauber and Audi announced the arrival of Nico Hulkenberg in 2025, at least one of the outgoing drivers will leave.
As Sainz contemplates taking a seat next to Hulkenberg, the main points of the contract on offer have been revealed by Red Bull’s Helmut Marko. The Austrian made it clear that Sainz is an engine of interest to Red Bull as they looked to have drivers. for a possible replacement. Sergio Perez, if the team decides to combine tactics with the Mexican.
Marko revealed that Audi had made an offer to Sainz that Red Bull “couldn’t fit in or exceed”, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner later claimed that his team didn’t know what Sainz had or wasn’t offered and even if they did, they wouldn’t need percentages of the main points of their negotiations.
Speaking against the context of Red Bull’s unconfirmed headquarters, for which Sainz is a contender, Marko said Red Bull would be stressed by what other companies are doing in the engine market.
“Sainz is in wonderful form at the moment,” Marko told Austrian publication OE24.
“I think he has a very smart offer from Audi for 3 years, but he has to make a resolution pretty quickly. On the other hand, we will make a resolution anytime soon, we allow ourselves to stress about this kind of thing. But of course, we solved it.
A vital aspect for Red Bull in their negotiations is that they know Sainz, having supported him in his junior career and during his early years in F1 while racing with Toro Rosso (now RB).
Marko said it’s evident that Sainz is a different engine to the one they had almost 10 years ago: “Well, he was still very young at the time, but in the meantime he’s evolved very well and is appearing fit. “
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Horner refuted Marko’s revelation of an Audi bid for Sainz, and the team boss reiterated that stance when speaking to the media after the Chinese Grand Prix.
“We are on the lookout for any offers,” he said.
“We haven’t been told what Audi would or wouldn’t have presented to Carlos and it’s not relevant to comment on it. “
“As I’m sure, if we were to make an offer, it wouldn’t be revealed to the team. So Carlos is on the open market for next year. It’s a promising prospect and there’s no doubt that many groups will show great interest. There are probably several that probably are.
“Honestly, no numbers have been revealed.
“You might assume that they’re going to be quite competitive in the driving force market.
“But, as you can see from the interest we’ve generated in the other driving forces sitting in our seats, for a driving force of Carlos’ caliber, he needs to be in a winning car. And while we have a position for next year, your goal is inevitably that position.
Interestingly, 2016 F1 world champion Nico Rosberg told Sky F1 that his Chinese GP policy was that he thought Sainz had won an offer from Red Bull, but he was not up to the task.
“You know they have an offer for Carlos Sainz and yesterday I saw dad Sainz talking to Christian Horner,” Rosberg said.
“Because Christian Horner has been a bit stingy with the offer. So they’re looking to squeeze a few more millions out of him!
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