‘Talks have started’ between Carlos Sainz Jr. and Mercedes as the Ferrari driver aims to fill Sir Lewis Hamilton’s position in 2025.
Hamilton is leaving Mercedes after 11 years at the end of the season to pursue a childhood dream of racing for Ferrari.
This significant move has left Sainz without a spot on the grid for 2025, although the two-time race winner said he was ‘calm’ about the situation and his representatives were ‘already working on the future’.
The Spaniard has long been connected with a move to Sauber who are set to be taken over by Audi in 2026, while there has been suggestion that he could effectively switch seats with Hamilton.
Mercedes have many options, including 17-year-old prodigy Andrea Kimi Antonelli to Max Verstappen who has been rumored to surprisingly leave Red Bull amid the Christian Horner scandal.
Toto Wolff said he was in no hurry to choose a new driver, but Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport now report that the Silver Arrows boss was involved in ‘lengthy discussions’ with Sainz’s entourage at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The 29-year-old’s father Carlos Sainz Sr. and manager Carlos Orono were seen leaving Mercedes hospitality in Jeddah last weekend.
It is said that ‘talks have started’ between the two parties after Sainz’s entourage spent a ‘long time’ in the hospitality area where they ‘spoke at length with Wolff’.
It should be noted that Sainz has previously downplayed transfer speculation, saying that it is normal for his dad, a two-time World Rally champion, to be speaking to team bosses.
‘If you saw, my dad went to say hello to [Red Bull chief] Helmut Marko. You need to remember he has a great relationship with him in the same way we have a good relationship with Toto,’ he said before the season opener in Bahrain.
‘With everyone in the grid it is normal at this stage of the year. But also, we haven’t seen each other for three or four months or so you’re going to say hello to each other.’
Sainz himself missed the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after undergoing surgery for appendicitis, but he returned to the paddock on race day to support his team.
18-year-old Brit Oliver Bearman stepped in to take his place, impressing on his Formula 1 debut, but it is not yet known whether Sainz will be back behind the wheel for the next race in Australia on 24th March.
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