Carlos Sainz Jr On McLaren Honda’s Radar for 2018

As silly season goes full swing, a lot of speculation have been made about Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz Jr. He is currently in his third season with the team for the 2017 season. The Spaniard is in demand at the moment for a number of teams and has even been shortlisted by a few of them. McLaren Honda is one of the teams that is keeping a close eye on the 22 year-old for the 2018 season. With Fernando Alonso’s future in doubt, the Woking squad will have to look for potential replacements. Alonso will be taking a call on his future in September and the British marquee will have to be prepared for the inevitable. However, McLaren were not the only ones to make a move on the talented Spaniard. At the end of the 2016 season, Renault had offered him a seat in their team but Red Bull were unwilling to let him go.

Sainz Jr is currently under a water-tight contract with Toro Rosso so a move would be difficult. However, with Red Bull being perfectly content with their current line-up of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, it could mean that Sainz Jr would have to stay with Toro Rosso for yet another season. A move to McLaren would also be risky, given the state of affairs between McLaren and Honda.

But teammate Daniil Kvyat revealed that he was unsure if he wishes to continue his partnership with Sainz Jr after they disagreed on the slipstreaming tactics in Canada a couple of weeks ago. Sainz had complained on the team radio that the Russian was not respecting the towing arrangement and Kvyat alleged that it was his turn to benefit from the slipstream. This could also be a factor that could force Sainz Jr to seek a racing seat elsewhere.