Red Bull's line-up dramas show Sainz dodged a bullet
When Carlos Sainz was announced as a McLaren driver late last season, it looked like he'd been forced into a spectacularly poor career choice. But the outcome has proved far better than anyone could have expected.
Motorsport.com's Prime content
The best content from Motorsport.com Prime, our subscription service. Subscribe here to get access to all the features.
Heads you drive for Red Bull Racing, tails you're part of the emerging Renault team's line-up. Not a bad coin toss for Carlos Sainz for the 2019 Formula 1 season. But what if it lands on its side? Then the best laid plans of Sainz and men go awry, which is why the 24-year old currently finds himself as McLaren's spearhead.
Sainz is clad in papaya in 2019 thanks to a combination of the cascade effect on the driver market caused by Daniel Ricciardo's defection to Renault and Red Bull's reluctance to recall its Spaniard given the way he agitated for a loan move away. McLaren was the right move on the basis of 'any port in a storm', and the first time he faced the massed ranks of the F1 media at Spa last year after the deal was done, Sainz wasn't convincing.
Share Or Save This Story
Archive: When the French GP almost produced F1's greatest shock
The lost F1 team that launched Newey
Why Haas' dreary 2019 season is bad news for F1
The real step that ended McLaren’s F1 nightmare
Rating the 2019 Formula 1 rookies
How Toro Rosso gave Renault a major scare
Will Williams' 2019 soul-searching be enough?
The top 10 Formula 1 drivers of 2019
The story behind Shanghai's "painted" F1 track surprise
What’s going on in the F1 2025 driver market?
Ricciardo says new RB F1 chassis brings "peace of mind"
Sainz: All my best 2025 F1 seat options are "still open"
What’s going on in the F1 2025 driver market?
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
What the Chinese GP's highlights reveal about its first F1 race for five years
The secrets of F1 turbocharging explained
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
