Carlos Sainz rejects Helmut Marko’s claims, defends healthy rivalry with Max Verstappen. Carlos Sainz denies Helmut Marko’s claims about a toxic rivalry with Max Verstappen at Toro Rosso.

Carlos Sainz denies Helmut Marko’s claims and criticizes Red Bull: the Spanish driver’s statements on his rivalry with Max Verstappen during their Toro Rosso days

Carlos Sainz expressed surprise at the skepticism surrounding his potential coexistence with Max Verstappen at Red Bull. According to the Spanish Formula 1 driver, his relationship with the four-time World Champion from the Netherlands is excellent, and their rivalry during their time together at Toro Rosso was “relatively healthy.” This view sharply contrasts with that of Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko, who in the past described their relationship as “toxic.”

Last season, while Carlos Sainz was searching for a new team after his forced departure from Scuderia Ferrari to make room for Lewis Hamilton, his name was also linked to Red Bull before he signed a multi-year contract with Williams. However, Red Bull decided to renew with Sergio Pérez, only to part ways with the Mexican driver at the end of the year and assign the second car to Liam Lawson for the 2025 season.

After the New Zealand driver’s first two disappointing races, Red Bull opted for a swap with Yuki Tsunoda, but this change did not improve the situation at all. Now, the Milton Keynes-based team finds itself in an extremely critical position amid Christian Horner’s distancing from the team and the possible departure of Max Verstappen, who appears to be heading to Mercedes. Currently, Red Bull sits fourth in the 2025 Constructors’ Championship with 172 points, of which 165 come from the Dutch champion.

Returning to the reasons why Carlos Sainz did not join Red Bull this season, he denied Helmut Marko’s version that the relationship between him and Max Verstappen during their 2015 Toro Rosso season was so toxic that the Austrian team had to prevent them from sharing the same garage again.

Carlos Sainz continues to challenge that narrative, affirming that his relationship with Verstappen is excellent and that their rivalry was in fact “relatively healthy.” “The only thing I can say is that I get along really well with Max,” he stated on the High Performance podcast.

“That’s what people don’t see from the outside. We had a rivalry in our first year in Formula 1 at Toro Rosso, but it was a relatively healthy rivalry based on how we approached racing. And today, we get on very well. If that’s the reason, I don’t understand why they don’t want me alongside Max, because I believe we could really be a very strong duo in Formula 1.”