Former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya has urged Red Bull Racing to make a U-Turn and sign Carlos Sainz before he joins Williams for the 2025 season, Afrosport reports.
Red Bull opted to retain Sergio Perez for the 2025 season but his position remains uncertain as he continues to underwhelm in the RB20 this season.
Sainz meanwhile opted to join Williams as Lewis Hamilton takes up his Ferrari seat alongside Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli takes the seat of the seven-time world champion at Mercedes.
Franco Colapinto has emerged as a potential option for Red Bull – either at the senior team or sister squad RB as Williams cannot offer the Argentine a permanent seat for next year having committed to Sainz and Alex Albon
Montoya, who previously raced for Williams and McLaren between 2001 and 2006, believes Red Bull should try and get Sainz out of his Williams contract before he races for the team, allowing Colapinto to earn the permanent Williams seat.
“If I were Christian Horner and the director of Red Bull, I would go to Williams and say, ‘look, you’re happy with Colapinto, keep him and give me Sainz’,” he W Radio Colombia.
“Why am I going to take the risk of replacing Checo – who is experienced in Formula 1, has won races – to put a rookie against Max.
“A rookie against Albon is tough, but you can do it. And look at Albon, whenever he has been under pressure and has had a fast team-mate he has crashed and continues to do so.
“Max doesn’t make mistakes and he doesn’t fail, so it’s complicated.”
Montoya added: “Personally, if I were Christian, I would say to him, ‘do you like Colapinto so much and do you want to make him grow?’”
“Me knowing Carlos, I think he has told Williams that he signed for them, but if he doesn’t win or do podiums, if someone offers me something, every year I can leave.
“Then they [Red Bull] could say to [Williams], ‘you can lose Carlos now or in a year, now you get money and next year you get no money’.
“If it was like that, that’s the move I would make for Red Bull, I wouldn’t go for Colapinto, I would go for Carlos.”
Sainz and Verstappen were teammates at Red Bull sister team Toro Rosso (now RB) in 2015 and 2016 before the latter went to senior team in the middle of the 2016 campaign while the former joined Renault towards the end of 2017 season.
Sainz also raced for McLaren in 2019 and 2020 before joining Ferrari in 2021.
