Carlos Sainz frustration emerges over key Max Verstappen call

Sainz, Verstappen, 2015, Toro Rosso, generic — Photo: © IMAGO

Red Bull

Carlos Sainz frustration emerges over key Max Verstappen call

Verstappen and Sainz have a history of an intense F1 rivalry

By Kerry Violet.

Sunday 17 May 2026 23:00

Formula 1 is widely regarded as the most demanding and competitive series in motorsport, where only drivers with exceptional talent, resilience, and determination can survive at the top level.

As a result, when opportunities arise for young drivers to prove themselves, they often have to seize them immediately - something Max Verstappen demonstrated early in his career.

The Dutch driver made his Formula 1 debut in 2015 after taking an unconventional route to the grid, bypassing Formula 2 entirely and jumping straight into the sport at a remarkably young age.

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Verstappen made history on his F1 debut as the youngest driver the sport had ever seen, a record he still holds to this day having first competed with Red Bull's junior outfit Toro Rosso at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix, when he was just 17 years and 166 days old.

For the 2015 campaign, the Dutchman was paired with Carlos Sainz, who was also navigating his maiden campaign in the sport that year after graduating from Red Bull's development driver pool.

Marko: It was clear Verstappen should be promoted over Sainz

Through its many rebrandings, the role of Red Bull's junior F1 team has always been to prepare (or test depending on how you look at it) young stars for a seat at the main squad since its inception in 2005.

Verstappen is by far the greatest success of this practice, with the Dutchman promoted up to the main team in 2016 in a move that many deemed to be premature, yet has resulted in the now 28-year-old claiming four drivers' championships.

In a recent interview with Dutch publication De Telegraaf, Marko looked back on the gutsy decision to swap Verstappen and and Red Bull F1 driver Daniil Kvyat ahead of the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.

The Austrian said: "Kvyat crashed twice in that race [2016 Russian GP] (on the opening lap against Sebastian Vettel, ed.)."

It was this series of mistakes from the Russian star (which to make matters worse, happened in front of a home crowd at the Sochi Autodrom) that convinced Marko that Red Bull couldn't afford to wait to promote an 18-year-old Verstappen up to the main F1 team.

Assessing Kvyat's form with the energy drink giants in the pinnacle of motorsport, Marko added: "The year before, he performed adequately and was sometimes even faster than Daniel Ricciardo, particularly in the rain.

"But in 2016, he was no longer the same driver and complained about the brakes from the very first day of testing. It was clear that we had to do something."

And so, history was made. On May 5, 2016, it was announced that Verstappen would be swapping seats with Kvyat immediately, with the Dutch starlet promoted to the role of Ricciardo's team-mate and the Russian driver dropped back down to the junior squad from the Spanish GP onwards.

Marko then revealed that his move to get Verstappen into the main team as soon as possible did not go down well with his fierce rival, revealing: "Max’s team-mate Carlos Sainz was very disappointed that we didn’t choose him. But for us, it was a clear and simple decision."

Unfortunately for the Spaniard, Marko was instantly proved right and Verstappen claimed his maiden race victory on debut for Red Bull at the very next race in Barcelona.

Since departing Red Bull's ranks altogether, Sainz has enjoyed the most success with Ferrari and is in fact still the most recent grand prix winner for the Scuderia.

However, his positive stint in red wasn't enough for Ferrari to choose to retain him over Charles Leclerc in 2025, and instead, Sainz was replaced by seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton.

When looking for a new team, Sainz pretty much had free rein over which outfit to move to, although reports quickly spread that a return to Red Bull would not be possible given his past disagreements with Verstappen.

Having instead chosen Williams to see out the next part of his career, Sainz is now struggling with a severely overweight car and likely questioning whether it would have been better to put his grudge with Verstappen aside and finally secure a seat with Red Bull in F1.

The fact is that he has never amounted to championship success and at the age of 31, may have now missed the golden opportunity to fight for a title.

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Carlos Sainz Helmut Marko