Red Bull chief reveals Sainz's 'lucrative offer' as seat drama rumbles on

Red Bull legend Helmut Marko has admitted that his team are interested in getting Carlos Sainz back into the fold, following a previous spell which didn't go according to plan.

Sainz drove with Red Bull's sister team - then Toro Rosso - in both the 2015 and 2016 seasons, before heading to McLaren midway through 2017.

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The Spaniard originally partnered now three-time world champion Max Verstappen, but the Dutchman was called up into the main team ahead of Sainz to partner Daniel Ricciardo.

This prompted Sainz to look elsewhere for a seat with a top team, with the 29-year-old now finding himself at Ferrari with three Formula 1 race victories to his name.

Despite being the only non-Red Bull driver to have won a race since the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix, Sainz is currently without a seat for the 2025 season, with Lewis Hamilton's stunning switch to Ferrari displacing the Spaniard.

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Where will Sainz end up in 2025?

Sainz has been linked with a plethora of teams, including Mercedes to replace the outgoing Hamilton, Sauber, Aston Martin and, indeed, Red Bull who are currently weighing up their options with Sergio Perez out of contract at the end of 2024.

Now, 80-year-old Marko has revealed that Red Bull have been in contact with Sainz, but that he has been offered a big contract with another team.

"We're talking to him. He's having his strongest season in Formula 1," Marko told Kleine Zeitung.

"But he has a very lucrative offer from Audi that we can't match or beat.

"We know him, it hurt him a lot back then when we relied on Verstappen and not him at Red Bull," Marko continued, talking about Verstappen's promotion in 2016.

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