Carlos Sainz Jr with Caterham F1 at the Hungarian GP?

Hallway whispers are turning into noise. The new star of the Red Bull junior team, whose name alone attracts the media, is also a fast driver. He is leading the Formula Renault 3.5 in his very first full year and outclasses his opponents. It’s enough for the son of the double world rally champion to be considered for a full-time Formula 1 seat even before the end of the season, similar to Daniel Ricciardo’s path, who was placed with HRT in 2011.

The Madrilenian is one of the great surprises and one of the great hopes of this year 2014. He was known to be performing well, always in the mix since his rookie year, and a hard worker, as evidenced by his participation in two major F3 championships in the single year of 2012. However, he hadn’t won a title since the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC in 2011, ahead of Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso), Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren reserve driver), and Robin Frijns (F3.5 champion 2012 and Caterham reserve driver… for now). This is why his supremacy in the F1 feeder series is surprising. In doing so, he eclipses the impressive performance of his fellow Frenchman Pierre Gasly, also a member of the Red Bull Junior Team and 2nd in the championship in his first participation.

The right moment?

The timing seems perfectly synchronized… a bit like the retirement of the former CEO of Renault Sport, just when Cyril Abiteboul was about to face unemployment after his dismissal from the Caterham F1 team. It worked out well!

Here it’s a bit the same story. It is rumored that Tony Fernandes was looking to replace Kobayashi before the end of the season! Finally, the arrival of the new management team led by the German-Romanian Colin Kolles in the British-Malaysian team with Swiss-Middle Eastern capital seems to accelerate certain things, particularly the ejector seats. Especially since there are talks of a partnership with Red Bull as a technical supplier. And what’s better when a team doesn’t have much money than to pay in kind… well, in a driver. It’s a fair exchange. Caterham inherits equipment at a lower cost in exchange for a seat to train a young driver in the top category, in real race conditions.

We know the Red Bull’s propensity to speed up the arrival of newcomers, even if it means skipping steps. And it’s not like the energy drink manufacturer already has two teams to place its drivers!

« Yes […] we talked with them »

The presence of Colin Kolles alongside Helmut Marko (Red Bull) and Sainz Sr. at Silverstone confirms the possibility of seeing Carlos Sainz Jr. in an F1 car as early as the Hungarian Grand Prix, at the end of July. Sainz Jr. admitted to the Spanish newspaper AS: « Yes, it’s true, we have talked with them (Caterham). But nothing is confirmed. […] My goal remains the same: to be with Toro Rosso in the future. If I have to go through Caterham, I would do it gladly. »

The Spanish driver prefers to focus on his current championship: “I have a great chance to win the World Series [by Renault] and would be happy to be the first Red Bull driver to achieve it” (Ricciardo and Vergne were both runners-up). At 19, he remains quite clear-headed about this sport: “If I win the F3.5, it would be logical to have a serious contact with an F1 team, but I still need to win and there are still many [races] left.”

A seat at Caterham would, of course, be a stepping stone to replace Jean-Eric Vergne at Toro Rosso in 2015. This would prove that at Red Bull you’re either a hero or a zero. No middle ground. One day you’re on the verge of getting into the same car as the reigning world champion and the next… you find yourself DJing in Spain! (a little nod to Jaime Alguersuari).