AlphaTauri boss breaks down the rivalry between Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz at Toro Rosso

Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz were teammates during the 2015 season of Formula 1.

AlphaTauri boss breaks down the rivalry between Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz at Toro Rosso

Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen (Via IMAGO)

Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz have over the years, become well-established drivers at the pinnacle of motor racing. While they currently find themselves at Red Bull and Ferrari respectively, their F1 career began with AlphaTauri which was back in the day called Toro Rosso.

In 2015 they became teammates at Toro Rosso and were both extremely fierce drivers. The AlphaTauri team principal, Franz Tost, who has been with the team for a long time, feels Max Verstappen was just a bit faster than Carlos Sainz and always had the edge on him.

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The duo has since done very well for themselves and Franz Tost while explaining how things were with Verstappen and Sainz at Toro Rosso, hinted that he very quickly identified that the Dutchman was more suited to Red Bull’s needs in comparison to Carlos Sainz and thus they decided to promote the former in 2016.

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Carlos is not at Max's level in terms of natural speed, but he is a very hard worker and a very intelligent driver on the track. There was tension with Max in 2015, but that's good, I like it, I don't want the drivers to get along very well. After that year, it was clear that Max would be Kvyat's replacement, he was simply faster.
Tost said, as reported by Soymotor.

Carlos Sainz is the only non-Red Bull driver to win a race in 2023

While Max Verstappen got the backing of Franz Tost and Co. from the very beginning, Carlos Sainz has had to find his own path in order to make it to the top. After departing from Toro Rosso, Sainz joined Renault in 2017 on a two-year stint and then jumped ship to McLaren ahead of 2019.

Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz (Credits: Planet F1)

Moreover, after impressing with them, he finally got his big move to the historic Ferrari F1 team ahead of the 2021 F1 season. Since then, he has been driving for them, and in an era where Red Bull has dominated, he is the only non-Red Bull driver during the ongoing campaign who has won a race.

Carlos Sainz has done an incredible 2023 campaign in Ferrari’s SF-23 and was surprisingly able to fend off Max Verstappen’s challenge during the Singapore GP. Next year could prove to be the campaign, where Sainz could really come to the party and fight for the F1 world championship.

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