Sainz won the Australian Grand Prix in emphatic fashion, taking the lead away from Max Verstappen as the Dutch driver struggled with a brake issue before his retirement, with the Ferrari driver leading home teammate Charles Leclerc.
Despite this success, Sainz is currently unemployed for 2025 as Ferrari opted against re-signing him alongside Charles Leclerc and instead turned to Lewis Hamilton for a sensational switch that has left Sainz scrabbling for a new job.
Having got the better of Leclerc all weekend in Australia on his first weekend back from having his appendix removed, his drive resulted in Red Bull boss Christian Horner opting against ruling out the chance of Sainz joining his team for next year.
Sainz, a former Red Bull junior who raced with Toro Rosso until late 2017, has had his name tenuously linked with the currently unconfirmed second cockpit at Red Bull that’s currently occupied by Sergio Perez.
Perez’s contract is also up for renewal for 2025, and came into the season fully informed that he needs a much better season this year than he had in 2023 as he struggled for pace and consistency alongside Max Verstappen.
So far, Perez has performed, but Sainz is a possibility if Red Bull do decide to look elsewhere.
Speaking to the media following the Australian Grand Prix, Horner opted against speculating on the futures of Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda due to it being “too early in the season”, but was pressed on the topic of whether he’d be interested in hiring the “very fast unemployed driver that won today”.
