Sainz backed for Mercedes move as MAJOR Audi warning issued

Former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner has warned Carlos Sainz over a move to Audi given their lack of recent experience with F1 engines, as he backed the Spaniard to drive for Mercedes in 2025.

Sainz's time at Ferrari will come to an end in 2025 when Lewis Hamilton replaces the Spaniard, teaming up with Charles Leclerc.

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Sainz is yet to commit his future to any team, as a handful of options await the 29-year-old.

Yet Steiner, who left his position as Haas team principal at the start of the year, believes that Sainz could well spend a year at Mercedes in 2025 – as he shared a word of warning regarding Audi's return to the F1 grid in 2026.

"There’s a lot of talk about Carlos going to Mercedes for a year," Steiner told The Red Flags podcast. "I think the chances he goes to Mercedes are bigger than him ending up at Red Bull.

"But I understand why Carlos is not in a hurry to make a decision. All the other teams are still waiting, Williams, Alpine, Audi is still waiting for him. So he just waits until somebody is not good enough.

"They all want to wait, these factory teams like Alpine and Audi, they want the best driver on the market.

"They know that the other ones [drivers] they can still get anyway, as until that domino falls, I don’t think anything will be moving...

"The risk with Audi [for Sainz] is higher as they’ve never made an F1 engine. Well, they did, but it was a long time ago."

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