Breaking news:Juan Pablo Montoya claims Max Verstappen blocked Red Bull from signing Carlos Sainz...... readmore

Breaking news:Juan Pablo Montoya claims Max Verstappen blocked Red Bull from signing Carlos Sainz…… readmore

Juan Pablo Montoya has claimed that Max Verstappen may have stopped Red Bull from signing Carlos Sainz for the upcoming season. The former F1 driver cited the duo’s past bumpy tenure as teammates as a potential factor behind the Dutchman’s reservations.

Lewis Hamilton’s unprecedented move to Ferrari led to several shakeups to the F1 grid last year. Carlos Sainz, a four-time race winner, was a free agent. He explored his options patiently, leading to a significant delay in decision-making.

Among many notable teams, Red Bull Racing emerged as front runners for a potential reunion. Sainz had previously been part of Toro Rosso in 2015. However, former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya has given his reasons why RB didn’t sign the Spaniard.

In his interview with CasasDeApuestas.bet, Montoya claimed that if Red Bull had any ambition to reunite with Carlos Sainz, Max Verstappen wouldn’t have let that happen. Since the duo had a heated tenure as teammates in Toro Rosso in 2015, Montoya believes the four-time world champion wouldn’t wish for more complications.

As quoted by Racingnews365, Montoya said:

“I’m sure that Max Verstappen would have stopped Carlos Sainz from coming to Red Bull so the competition within the team wasn’t difficult, although I can’t confirm personally. When they were teammates at Toro Rosso, their relationship was pretty bumpy. I am not sure Max would have wanted to deal with that again.”

The ex-driver clarified that while Verstappen respects Sainz as a driver, the complications surrounding their relationship are likely the root cause of the problem.

“It’s not about [Max Verstappen] being scared; it’s about being smart. Why would you make your life unnecessarily difficult and create a difficult environment?” he added.

Carlos Sainz eventually ended up signing a multi-year deal with Williams Racing. He will pair up with Alex Albon to fuel Williams’ rebuilding project from the 2025 F1 season onwards

After losing the constructors’ championship in 2024, Red Bull Racing changed its drivers lineup for the upcoming season. After the conclusion of the 2024 season, the team parted ways with Sergio Perez.

As his replacement, the team promoted Liam Lawson from its sister team, the Racing Bulls. When asked about his thoughts on having Lawson as a teammate for the upcoming season, Max Verstappen told Blick:

“If we can get the car back to the front, the name in the other cockpit won’t matter.”

Further explaining how Red Bull can return to the top of the grid, he said

“I don’t have a crystal ball, but if we can rectify certain weaknesses over the winter, we’ll be back at the front. But I’m certainly not making any predictions here.”

Verstappen remains unaffected by the name on the other side of the Red Bull garage. His sole focus is to ensure his team regains the lost dominance in the 2025 season.

Stay tuned for more updates……..