But as paddock whispers emerged in Monaco that the Spaniard is in talks with the Grove-based squad, a deeper analysis of what the team can offer shows it might not be such a crazy option for him.
Of course, as a driver at the top of his game who has shown he can fight on equal terms with the very best, Sainz’s preference is obviously be to keep himself in a race-winning seat for 2025.
But with Red Bull and Mercedes clearly not falling over themselves to snap up the Spaniard, as they edge towards committing to other options, Sainz has been left with a rapidly dwindling set of options.
The easiest choice for him would be to take the money and security of a long-term works deal with Audi.
It would guarantee him several years in F1, the full support of a manufacturer team and the possibility to be part of an exciting new project.
But equally it is not without its risk and downsides – and the biggest is that it could be a step backwards in competitive terms for quite some time.
While Audi is throwing a tremendous amount of money at its F1 entry and the creation of its new 2026 power unit, the Sauber team it bought is coming from quite a long way back.
Off the back of some under investment in recent years, Sauber is needing to get on with a recruitment drive to lift it up to the level of other teams; while the infrastructure at its Hinwil factory needs ramping up too.
Those are things that take time to have an impact and, with its current car struggling to deliver the consistency needed to fight for points right now, the reality is that there is unlikely to be a major change in fortunes next year.
That could mean Sainz, if he takes up the Audi offer, of moving from a Ferrari team that is fighting for wins each weekend, to a Sauber squad that may well be fighting to get out of Q1. That’s not a very exciting prospect.
Williams right now looks to be not much better than Sauber in outright pace terms, but the team has been clear about the potential it sees for rapid improvement.
That could well be the reason why team boss James Vowles went so public last weekend in Imola in revealing that the squad’s FW46 is well overweight – and giving away a bunch of lap time that is easily recoverable.
“The car this year that we’ve been running is about four and a half tenths a lap slower, every lap, by the fact it is still overweight,” said Vowles, who thinks it can shed the majority of that excess over the next few races.
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