Jacques Villeneuve’s Carlos Sainz verdict sums up why he would be Max Verstappen’s perfect teammate

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Red Bull Racing have made yet another driver change ahead of the 2026 season, with Isack Hadjar replacing Yuki Tsunoda after just one season on the grid.

Throughout their time in Formula 1, Red Bull haven’t been shy about giving young drivers a chance, with Max Verstappen still the sport’s youngest debutant, and the likes of Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly being promoted very early in their careers.

Isack Hadjar will join Max Verstappen, but it could have been a very different situation if Red Bull had acted differently in the driver market.

Which Red Bull driver has been treated most harshly?

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Red Bull have rarely looked outside of their roster when it came to signing drivers, with Sergio Perez an outlier when he arrived in 2021.

Carlos Sainz was previously backed by Red Bull, partnering Verstappen at Toro Rosso in 2015.

Sainz had been linked with Red Bull after his Ferrari exit, but a move never materialised. However, Jacques Villeneuve has compared the Spaniard to Verstappen, and his reasoning suggests that Red Bull should have taken their interest more seriously.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Jacques Villeneuve sees similarities between Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen

Villeneuve was speaking about Sainz on the High Performance Podcast, and he said: “That probably didn’t go down with him moving from a team like Ferrari to a team that last year was not in the top tier.

“But seeing how the season’s gone, he’s probably very happy.

“On the other hand, it’s what he’s done everywhere he’s gone to. When he was teammates with Max at Toro Rosso at the time, he was doing quite well.

“There was nothing to be shy about or embarrassed about. So he was doing well, and he came in very educated, very focused, a different upbringing than a lot of others.

“Every team he’s been to, he’s made the teams better every time. In the first half of the season, he was a little bit struggling himself pace-wise compared to his teammate until he made the car better.

“It made both drivers go faster, but it had a bigger positive effect on him than his teammate every time.”

Finish the sentence: In 2026, Carlos Sainz will finish ____ in the championship with Williams

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Asked to expand on why he has that kind of impact, Villeneuve continued: “He’s working on the car. That’s all.

“He actually understands what the car is doing, and he’s thinking about it, like Max, he’s always thinking about racing and about the car.

“He knows what he needs. And it’s not a question of, there’s understeer, there’s oversteer. No, that’s useless. That is completely useless.

“There are times when you have to adapt your driving to understand what the problem with the car is, so you can fix it, so you can go back to your normal driving style and so on.”

READ MORE: Williams star Carlos Sainz’s life outside F1 from full name, girlfriend and height

Red Bull didn’t sign Carlos Sainz over concerns with Max Verstappen’s camp

Villeneuve’s explanation that Sainz and Verstappen are the two drivers who work on their cars most effectively would make them an incredible partnership at Red Bull.

Sainz had a clause that would have allowed him to leave Williams at the end of this year had Red Bull come back in for him.

However, it shows the faith he has in James Vowles’ plans for 2026 and his own ability, that he’s keen to become team leader at one of Red Bull’s rivals.

There were previously concerns that Verstappen and Sainz’s camps didn’t get along during their time at Toro Rosso, which might have stopped Red Bull from making a move for the four-time race winner.

Both drivers have matured a lot since their maiden F1 campaigns, and if Red Bull really did want Sainz, then it should have been an issue that they could have moved past.

Instead, Williams have benefited from Red Bull’s hesitation, and will now believe they’re best equipped to make the leap from F1’s midfield to the front of the grid.