Juan Pablo Montoya also believes that Max Verstappen “would have prevented” Carlos Sainz to join Red Bull in 2025.
Sainz had been tipped for a drive at Red Bull this season when it was announced he had lost his drive at Ferrari to Lewis Hamilton. But the Spaniard was ultimately ignored by Red Bull, who continued to maintain faith in Sergio Perez.
Perez was ultimately ousted at the end of the 2024 season, having failed to halt his slump in performance, with Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson promoted to the senior team for that season.
Horner recently explained why Sainz wasn’t really considered (read here). But it has mostly been suggested that Sainz was never a serious candidate for Red Bull due to rumors of conflict between his camp and that of Verstappen. The two were teammates at Toro Rosso in 2015 and Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko revealed their relationship was “quite toxic” at certain times.
And seven-time Grand Prix winner Montoya suspects Verstappen would have vetoed any Sainz transfer.
“I’m sure Max would have stopped Carlos from coming to Red Bull, so that the competition within the team wouldn’t be too tough, although I can’t confirm that personally,” Montoya said.
“When they were teammates at Toro Rosso, their relationship was quite rocky. I’m not sure Max would have wanted to go through that again. Carlos made Max’s life quite difficult. So when you can control who is in the 2nd car like Max, you wouldn’t want to shoot yourself in the foot, would you?”
“It’s not that Max is afraid, it’s that he’s smart. Why make your life unnecessarily difficult and create a difficult environment?”
Montoya added that he thinks “It’s disappointing that Carlos didn’t end up in a better F1, but Williams has the ability to make another comeback to the McLaren over the next few years.”
“I think they can do incredible things in the future. In two or three years, Williams could be in the current situation of McLaren, which has managed to put everything back on its feet. The team has the necessary financial backing and put everything in place to accomplish his mission.”
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