Patrese: “Sainz could go to Red Bull, but it doesn’t mean he’s better than Williams”

The loss of key figures The delicate moment that Red Bull is going through, between Max Verstappen’s dissatisfaction and the agreement reached between Gianpiero Lambiase and McLaren for 2028, has at the same time generated rumors in the driver market. Everything focuses on the figure of the four-time Dutch world champion, with his hypothetical transfer to another team (or even retirement from F1) which would inevitably free up a seat in Milton Keynes. But who would be the most suitable driver to replace Verstappen? Verstappen’s successors In recent weeks there has been no shortage of various opinions, including that of Riccardo Patrese, winner of 6 GPs in his career. In an interview given to BettinLounge, the former driver did not exclude Carlos Sainz, recognizing at the same time how risky the Anglo-Austrian company’s card could be at the moment: “At the end of last year, he was brilliant – explained the Paduan about Sainz – he brought Williams to a level that it hadn’t reached for many years. Now he could be unhappy and think that the car and the team are not in a good position. But if he wanted to leave, where would he go? It’s difficult to think that can go back to Ferrari, it’s difficult for him to find a place at McLaren because they have two good drivers, Mercedes is out of the question. So, leaving a team like Williams would not make sense. Maybe he could go to Red Bull, but they are losing all the key figures, in the end they could be even worse than Williams at the moment. But I think Williams showed that they are really improving end of this month if, after the forced break, they manage to present a better car.” Other difficulties Patrese also focused on a team in clear difficulty like Aston Martin, even last in the Constructors’ standings and with Fernando Alonso reaching the finish line only once. Completely unexpected results on the eve of the championship, even more so with the arrival of Adrian Newey, but for Patrese there is only one way out of this serious sporting crisis: “It all depends on Honda! From the car’s point of view, with Adrian Newey they have the best engineer they could have, but he is not able to solve Honda’s problems. Honda must solve them, and we know how strong they can be. Of course, at the moment they have big problems, but I am confident that Honda will recover. They are very resilient and very intelligent. they will give up, and one day they will have a good engine. That will be when Aston Martin, thanks to Adrian Newey, will be able to come back really strong.”