{"id":22332,"date":"2024-07-24T04:33:57","date_gmt":"2024-07-24T08:33:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=22332"},"modified":"2024-07-24T04:33:57","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T08:33:57","slug":"carlos-sainz-audi-and-alpine-compete-for-his-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/07\/24\/carlos-sainz-audi-and-alpine-compete-for-his-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Carlos Sainz: Audi and Alpine compete for his services"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Carlos Sainz remains the big unknown in the F1 driver market. As the summer break approaches, there is still <strong>no certainty on when he will sign a contract<\/strong> for 2025. Although Audi and Alpine are the front-runners, a decision is not expected anytime soon.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Carlos Sainz continues to play the waiting game<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In just the last month, there has been plenty of change in the F1 world. Perhaps the biggest off-track development concerns <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/07\/20\/horner-out-of-patience-with-perez-we-cant-run-on-one-leg\/\" target=\"_self\">Sergio Perez<\/a>, who is at risk of being replaced at Red Bull.<\/p>\n<p>Although <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/07\/15\/why-carlos-sainz-is-playing-the-waiting-game\/\" target=\"_self\">Sainz<\/a> is not seen as a contender to join the reigning Champions, the volatility at <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/07\/21\/max-verstappen-warns-red-bull-must-wake-up\/\" target=\"_self\">Red Bull<\/a> shows why <strong>the Spaniard has chosen to take his time<\/strong> in the market.<\/p>\n<p>After missing out on Red Bull and Mercedes contracts, Sainz has chosen to bide his time and evaluate the remaining options.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"o0A7FEFMTrhXoBXGahge4g\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2159407126\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'o0A7FEFMTrhXoBXGahge4g',sig:'gL7qhEl9IhwZHkexh2B6E7YQxaHCCgM7sCWwgqMickg=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2159407126',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>For now, the two main paths for the 29-year-old are midfield teams.<\/p>\n<p>The first is Sauber\/Audi, whose<strong> interest in the Spaniard is well-established<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Since <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/07\/23\/vasseur-defends-ferrari-development-record\/\" target=\"_self\">Ferrari<\/a> announced they had replaced Carlos Sainz for the 2025 season, Audi moved to start negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>As a manufacturer team, Audi can offer a sizable salary and &#8211; more importantly &#8211; the chance to join a project with immense potential.<\/p>\n<p>Although there are plenty of question marks surrounding Audi&#8217;s F1 chances, an engine supplier will inevitably <strong>have better chances of reaching the top<\/strong> than a customer team.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/07\/22\/andrea-stella-defends-mclaren-strategy-at-hungarian-gp\/\" target=\"_self\">McLaren<\/a> are the only team in recent years to buck the trend.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"DynkmLK3Rldo-PXCGa8_MA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2156202845\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'DynkmLK3Rldo-PXCGa8_MA',sig:'U8Tup8h1rlJwkhzmIg63kzOMz6LlJpHCbNyjLoRDOGA=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2156202845',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Alpine still under consideration<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Speaking of engine manufacturers, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/07\/22\/mercedes-and-alpine-inch-closer-to-engine-agreement\/\" target=\"_self\">Alpine<\/a> are the other team working to secure Sainz&#8217;s services.<\/p>\n<p>Curiously, the French outfit is considering abandoning the Renault engine in favour of Mercedes power.<\/p>\n<p>In essence, Alpine <strong>could sacrifice its manufacturer status<\/strong> when the new 2026 regulations arrive.<\/p>\n<p>Whilst this could be seen as a step backwards &#8211; with team Enstone outsourcing their development to someone else &#8211; it could make them a more attractive prospect in the short term.<\/p>\n<p>Since Mercedes are expected to produce a front-running engine in 2026, Sainz might prefer a Mercedes-powered Alpine as an interim option.<\/p>\n<p>As it stands, <strong>the three-time race winner&#8217;s preference is unclear<\/strong>. There are still plenty of changes behind the scenes at Alpine and Audi.<\/p>\n<p>The arrival of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/07\/23\/mattia-binotto-makes-f1-return-with-audi\/\" target=\"_self\">Mattia Binotto<\/a>, for example, could impact how Carlos Sainz perceives the potential of Audi&#8217;s engine project.<\/p>\n<p>Then again, as seen throughout 2024, the Ferrari driver will likely continue deliberating on his decision for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Carlos Sainz remains the big unknown in the F1 driver market. As the summer break approaches, there is still no certainty on when he will sign a contract for 2025. Although Audi and Alpine are the front-runners, a decision is not expected anytime soon. Carlos Sainz continues to play the waiting game In just the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":22345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2220,1567,206,68],"class_list":["post-22332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-2024-formula-1-season","tag-alpine","tag-audi","tag-f1"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}