Sainz Jr could drive with Toro Rosso in 2014
Carlos Sainz Jr, a member of Red Bull's junior driver program, is expected to have the opportunity to drive in a free practice session on a Friday this year, possibly to prepare for a potential race seat next year.
After Sebastian Vettel, Jaime Alguersuari, Daniel Ricciardo, Jean-Eric Vergne, and Daniil Kvyat, among others, the next driver to benefit from the young drivers program set up by Red Bull to race in F1 is expected to be Carlos Sainz Jr. The Spaniard, who already drove for Red Bull and Toro Rosso last July during the young driver tests held at Silverstone, could soon find himself back in an F1 seat.
Carlos Sainz, former rally driver and father of the current DAMS driver in the World Series by Renault, who is leading the Formula Renault 3.5 championship, nevertheless stated in Montreal – cited by AS – that there was no reason to rush things for his son immediately: « There is no urgency – the later the better. I haven’t received any information from Red Bull, from anyone regarding anything other than the World Series [by Renault] for Carlos. We are going step by step, with confidence, trying to do things well. »
However, the young Spaniard seems well on his way to securing a full-time seat with Toro Rosso next season. He might even benefit from running with this season’s car, as Franz Tost, the director of the Italian team, revealed: “Nothing is decided but I think sooner or later, he will be on track with us. I hope he will drive for us on a Friday [this season], but I cannot confirm it yet because it’s early in the season and we are trying to solve our reliability issues.”
