The Sainz effect that would make him the perfect Verstappen teammate

Passed over by Red Bull because of yesteryear’s rivalry with Max Verstappen, Red Bull may have missed a trick as Jacques Villeneuve believes Carlos Sainz makes every team that he joins “better every time”.

And if there’s one thing Red Bull needs, it’s a second driver who can push both Verstappen and the car’s development.

‘Every team he’s been to, he’s made the teams better every time.’

Sainz and Verstappen were teammates in their first season in Formula 1 with Red Bull’s second team, then known as Toro Rosso.

But tension between the drivers and notably the drivers’ fathers – Carlos Sainz Snr. and Jos Verstappen – meant former Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko did not want to sign Sainz to Red Bull last year when he was dropped by Ferrari in favour of Lewis Hamilton.

“The atmosphere between the two at Toro Rosso was quite toxic,” admitted Marko. “With the configuration we had then, I didn’t see a way to keep him with us, so Carlos went through Renault, McLaren and then he ended up at Ferrari.”

“Sainz was almost at the same level as Max Verstappen… almost. But when we had to choose between Max and Carlos, it was clear what we should do.”

Sainz, who went on to sign a multi-year deal with Williams, was perplexed by the decision.

“We had a rivalry in our first year in Formula 1 at Toro Rosso, but it was a relatively healthy rivalry in terms of how we used to go about racing. And now we get on really well,” he said earlier this year.

“If that’s the reason, I don’t understand why they wouldn’t want me next to Max, because I think we would actually be a very strong pairing in Formula 1.”

After all, says Villeneuve, Sainz has boosted every team that he has ever raced for in Formula 1.

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A snapshot of that is Williams improving from ninth in the 2024 Constructors’ Championship to P5 this past season, where Sainz claimed two podium finishes. His P3 in Azerbaijan was Williams’ first full-race podium since 2017.

Villeneuve believes Sainz is a driver who can boost any team’s performances.

“That probably didn’t go down with him moving from a team like Ferrari to a team that last year was not in the top tier,” he told the High Performance Podcast. “But seeing how the season’s gone, he’s probably very happy.

“On the other hand, it’s what he’s done everywhere he’s gone to.

“When he was teammates with Max at Toro Rosso at the time, he was doing quite well. There was nothing to be shy about or embarrassed about. So he was doing well, and he came in very educated, very focused, a different upbringing than a lot of others.

“Every team he’s been to, he’s made the teams better every time.

“In the first half of the season, he was a little bit struggling himself pace-wise compared to his teammate until he made the car better.

“It made both drivers go faster, but it had a bigger positive effect on him than his teammate every time.”

Quizzed on why Sainz is already to do that, Villeneuve replied: “He’s working on the car. That’s all.

“He actually understands what the car is doing, and he’s thinking about it, like Max, he’s always thinking about racing and about the car.

“He knows what he needs. And it’s not a question of, there’s understeer, there’s oversteer. No, that’s useless. That is completely useless.

“There are times when you have to adapt your driving to understand what the problem with the car is, so you can fix it, so you can go back to your normal driving style and so on.”

The 1997 World Champion reckons Sainz and Verstappen share characteristics that make set them apart from other racers.

“Most drivers get out of the car, look at the data, and then they have the answers, but they don’t actually have the question,” he revealed.

“So the answer is to give them the questions, and oftentimes you’ll see them going in a completely wrong direction. But that’s the modern way of racing.

“Max is very old-fashioned in that, and I think Carlos is as well. He’ll use the data a lot, but he actually has a comprehension of what is happening to the car as he’s driving,” he added.

Next season Sainz will remain with Williams while Verstappen has a new teammate in Isack Hadjar, his third new teammate since Sergio Perez left the team after the F1 2024 season.

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