Helmut Marko discusses the ‘unhealthy’ Max Verstappen-Carlos Sainz relationship at Toro Rosso
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Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen at the launch of the Toro Rosso STR10 in 2015 (IMAGO / Crash Media Group)
Carlos Sainz Jr. and Max Verstappen started their careers as teammates, though their career paths diverged. Max Verstappen was promoted to the main team in 2016, where he very much proved his mettle, and is now a two-time world champion. On the other hand, Carlos Sainz spent some years at McLaren and Renault in the midfield, until he eventually got his shot with Ferrari in the big time.
The car was certainly there for him, at least for most of the season. But it didn’t really suit his driving style. More importantly, Ferrari themselves were not all there. Reliability issues and strategic errors cost them dearly. Nonetheless, he got two important milestones this year – his first pole position, and his first win, both at the British Grand Prix.
The pair of them also did not have a very good relationship in their time at Toro Rosso, as Helmut Marko revealed. Not only them, but it carried over between their fathers as well – Carlos Sainz Sr. and Jos Verstappen. This played a part in Red Bull promoting Verstappen to the main team, and the rest is, as they say, history.
Helmut Marko: Max Verstappen’s promotion defused tension with Carlos Sainz
Some to this day feel that the demotion of Daniil Kyvat was unfair on the Russian driver, as he had been faster than his teammate Daniel Ricciardo in 2015. But there were certainly reasons for it, and one cannot argue that the decision has worked out for Red Bull, even if it wasn’t a nice situation for Kyvat.
Talking to the German magazine Auto Motor und Sport, Helmut Marko explained: “Kvyat was faster than Ricciardo in his first year at Red Bull in 2015. In the second year, from the first day of testing, he got it in his head that there was a problem with the There are brakes. He dropped back from the speed first, then there were accidents. Suddenly you felt an insecurity. We had to react.”
And then there was the relationship between Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen: “We had Sainz and Verstappen at the same time. That wasn’t a healthy relationship with Toro Rosso. On the one hand the shrewd politician Carlos Sainz Senior, on the other hand the emotional three-way Jos Verstappen. Sometimes things really got down to business.”
Max Verstappen’s promotion defused the tension, even though Sainz eventually sought other avenues away at Renault: “With the promotion of Max, we defused it in one fell swoop. Father Sainz was of course offended to death and no longer understood the world. Internally we sometimes had to take tough action, even if it was to the outside world always looked harmonious.”
The two will presumably be competing for the championship again next season, even though Charles Leclerc is considered Ferrari’s ‘golden boy’. It is not as if Sainz won’t have a go himself, and it is definitely his goal for 2023, provided that Ferrari improve their ‘execution’ and the car is good enough.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)