REVIEW BY BEN STEVENS
Is it senior team or bust for Carlos Sainz? Is Max
Verstappen leaving for Ferrari? Is Daniel Ricciardo
retiring?!
Funnily enough, it’s only the one we’ve heard
directly from the horse’s mouth that we can rule out
entirely, the other two – who knows?
Red Bull advisor and lost-Scooby Doo villain
Helmut Markko was adamant on Friday that Sainz
would be in a Toro Rosso next year, but if reports are to
be believed and Verstappen is on his way out, things
could change.
What makes this particularly tricky to dissect
is all the potential misdirection going on. Dutch
commentator Olav Mol is claiming the Verstappen
rumour actually came from the Sainz camp, having
fed it to Spanish newspaper Marca, which was
subsequently picked-up by The Independent, which if
true, is a hell of a piece of skulduggery. In any case,
this is a story that seems far from over…
Quick Hits
Are Honda’s spec-3 engines actually working?
P8 and P12 is certainly a good sign. Conversely, if
it holds, Sauber is relegated firmly to worst-of-the-lot
status.
Not a great day for Williams, who struggled on a
track they’ve performed well at in years past. Would be
a great disappointment to not even make the top 10 after
their heroics in Azerbaijan.
Once again Friday was a day with plenty of spills
up-and-down the field. Everyone from Sebastian Vettel
to Marcus Ericsson was taking off-track sojourns.
Could we see the same come Sunday?