Villeneuve: Sainz Would Be the Perfect Verstappen Teammate
Jacques Villeneuve argues Carlos Sainz is the perfect teammate for Max Verstappen, citing his technical skills and team-improving influence. He suggests Red Bull missed a major opportunity by not re-signing the Spaniard for 2026, despite their history as Toro Rosso rookies.
Former F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve believes Carlos Sainz would be the ideal teammate for Max Verstappen, highlighting the Spaniard's technical acumen and team-building influence as missed opportunities for Red Bull.
Why it matters:
Villeneuve's analysis challenges the established driver market narrative and questions Red Bull's long-term strategy. His endorsement of Sainz underscores the value of a driver who can not only match a generational talent on track but also elevate the entire team's performance through technical feedback and development—a crucial factor in a tight constructor battle.
The details:
Villeneuve points to the drivers' shared history at Toro Rosso in 2015 as evidence of their compatibility, noting Sainz performed admirably against the then-rookie Verstappen. He emphasizes Sainz's unique profile as "very well-trained, very focused," with a different background than many of his rivals.
- Team Catalyst: A key argument is Sainz's proven impact on every team he has driven for. "In every team he has been in, he has made the team better," Villeneuve states. He observes that while Sainz sometimes struggled with outright pace early in a season, car improvements ultimately benefited both drivers, with Sainz often extracting more performance.
- Technical Synergy: The core of Villeneuve's case lies in technical understanding. He claims Sainz, like Verstappen, is constantly thinking about racing and car balance. "He really understands what the car is doing and knows what he needs," Villeneuve explains, suggesting this shared engineering mindset would create a powerful feedback loop for Red Bull.
Between the lines:
Despite this compelling profile, Red Bull opted for its internal talent, Isack Hadjar, for 2026. Villeneuve's comments implicitly critique this decision, suggesting the team prioritized internal harmony and program continuity over what he sees as a competitively superior pairing. The reference to "past tensions" between the Sainz and Verstappen camps hints at the complex political and personal dynamics that often override pure performance logic in F1 driver selections.