F1 | Red Bull, Marko: “Sainz is a fast driver, but he's not Verstappen”

Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz are two of the clearest talents of recent years, who shared the garage for about a year and a half, from their debut in 2015 until the fourth race of 2016, when the Dutchman moved from Toro Rosso to Red Bull.

The last season highlighted these two talents even more, on the one hand thanks to the victories achieved by Verstappen during the championship, on the other because Sainz managed to earn a leading role in the midfield with McLaren, until podium achieved in Brazil. In particular, the performances of 2019 have placed the Spaniard in a particularly positive light not only in the eyes of the fans, but also of the professionals, so much so that they included him in the list of the best drivers of the season. All this has once again led to comparisons, also regarding Sainz's failure to arrive at Red Bull over the past seasons, not only in 2016, but also in 2019 after the farewell of Daniel Ricciardo, a role for which the team Anglo-Austrian had preferred to hire Pierre Gasly.

Helmut Marko, always a talent scout and the person who manages the Red Bull young driver academy, expressed his opinion on the matter, underlining how although the latest results have given the Spaniard credit for significant growth, the situation is not changed, considering Verstappen on another level: “Carlos was compared with Max Verstappen. In 2016 the choice was between the two of them: who to promote? And then it was decided. Carlos is fast, otherwise we wouldn't have supported him, but he's not Verstappen" – commented Marko -. “We helped Carlos in his career, but we facilitated the transition to Renault and then to McLaren. We have a good relationship, but in those moments we had Verstappen in the team and there are differences between them.”