Max Verstappen had “toxic” relationship with potential new Red Bull F1 team-mate

Max Verstappen doesn’t always get along with his F1 teammates, and if the rumors are true, he may be looking forward to a reunion with someone he previously had trouble seeing eye to eye with.

Verstappen is rumored to be reuniting with Sainz at Red Bull in the future.

Helmut Marco has revealed the ‘toxic’ relationship between Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz when they were last Formula 1 teammates.
They raced together for Toro Rosso for over a year before Verstappen was invited to join Red Bull’s main team. Sainz remained with the sister team until he left for Renault at the end of 2017.
In their only season together, Verstappen easily overtook his teammate despite being a young driver. He scored 49 points compared to Sainz’s 18, paving the way for the Dutchman to overtake his Red Bull teammate in the race for a top spot in the team.
As companies compete with each other for these changes, it is only natural that internal competition arises. But in an interview with Red Bulletin, team adviser Marco described a complete breakdown in their relationship.

Sergio Perez’s replacement has received a major boost from F1 as Red Bull considers its options.

“He lived for a long time in the shadow of his father, a two-time world rally champion,” the Austrian said of Sainz. “He was in the unfair position of being the spoiled son of a racing driver, while Carlos had to constantly fight to get ahead.
“Having Max as a partner was bad luck for him. The atmosphere between the two in Toro Rosso was very toxic. “There was no way we could keep him in the situation we were in then, so he moved to Renault, McLaren and Ferrari.”

As Marco said, Sainz has become one of the best teams in F1 despite Verstappen hampering Red Bull’s progress. The Spaniard was one of three drivers to win the 2023 race and the only one to do so when not driving one of the powerful RB19s.