Carlos Sainz is the topic of conversation during the Ziggo Sport Race Café. The Spaniard has been widely praised by the men at the table for his unexpected victory in Melbourne, and there is also speculation about what will be next for the Madrid driver. Driver Renger van der Zande already sees one very good option for Sainz next year.
The men from the Ziggo Sport Race Cafe start the broadcast with a look back at the race in Melbourne, and the performance of race winner Sainz in particular is extensively praised. “Max (Verstappen, ed.) and Sainz could have had a nice fight,” Van der Zande believes, if the Dutch world champion had not dropped out in round three of the race. “I think Sainz was also very strong.”
Presenter Rob Kampheus particularly noticed that the Spaniard beat his Ferrari teammate at Albert Park. ‘Bizarre that he is faster than Leclerc.’ However, Van der Zande thinks he knows the reason why Sainz was so much faster than the Monegasque. ‘Funny how that works, as if the pressure is off a bit, that he just thinks: hey, all I can do is win. He even went into the weekend like: I even take into account that I would have to go out during the weekend because I am not fit enough. He sits in that car, it’s going well, it feels good, there’s no pressure, and then you see that he’s suddenly going fast. That may have something to do with Sainz.’
Why Sainz wins more often than Leclerc
It is not the first time that Ferrari has won a race during Red Bull’s dominant era. During the Singapore Grand Prix in 2023, Sainz was also the first to cross the finish line. However, it is striking, according to the men at the table, that it is Sainz who has already won twice on behalf of Ferrari, and not Leclerc. “He’s just very open minded, he has nothing left to lose, that drives very nicely,” driver Larry ten Voorde explains Sainz’s good performance. However, the Dutch driver does not think Ferrari made a mistake by choosing Leclerc in 2025 instead of Sainz.
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Van der Zande thinks that Sainz is currently in a key position for the noisy driver market. ‘Sainz is of course the key regarding Formula 1 seats. If he decides, or he gets a chance, to go to Red Bull or Aston Martin, or whatever it will be, then you will see that all the other dominoes will fall in one go,” said Van der Zande. “I’m curious to see what he’ll do, he’s a great driver, but I don’t see him being as good as a Max, or as a Hamilton, not world championship material.”
Sainz back to Red Bull?
The other guests at the table agree with Van der Zande that Sainz will not win the world championship anytime soon, but do see Sainz returning to Red Bull. “He was trained there, he has good contacts there, he is the only one who once made things difficult for Verstappen in a Formula 1 car, they came together in Formula 1,” Van der Zande explains, but Rob van Gameren Please make a comment on the last comment. ‘Well ten years ago, and Max had only driven a few Formula 3 races. He could end up ahead a few times (before Verstappen, ed.), if he doesn’t throw it away like Pérez does.’
