Carlos Sainz offered his response to Red Bull swapping Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda, alongside a question about whether the team ‘paid the price’ for not signing him as Max Verstappen’s team-mate.

Sainz saw his future up for grabs last season as he was due to leave Ferrari, with the 30-year-old confirming he held talks with “every team” before landing on a seat with Williams in a multi-year deal.

Carlos Sainz: Red Bull seat switch ‘nothing new’

Sainz began his Formula 1 career in the Red Bull stable, as Verstappen’s team-mate at Toro Rosso before moving on to Renault.

Since then the Dutchman has partnered Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez and, for two races, Lawson before the New Zealander was demoted back to Racing Bulls with Tsunoda now in the Red Bull seat.

With Lawson’s return to Racing Bulls having been spoken about throughout media day at Suzuka, Sainz was asked for his response about the latest development at Red Bull, explaining it is simply the way things have been at the team for some time.

Speaking in the TV pen, the Williams driver said: “No, I just think it’s nothing new. It’s just the Red Bull and the way things are handled in Red Bull, and the way things go in Red Bull.

“We’ve seen it the last 10 years in Formula 1, or since I’m in F1 that that’s the way things are done there.

“One day you get the chance. The next day, if you don’t do exactly the way you’re expected to do, you get the upgrade or the downgrade, you know, and that’s the way things are at Red Bull. So, yeah, no news for me.”

More on the start of the F1 2025 season so far

✍️ The Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings heading into the Japanese Grand Prix

✍️ F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner acknowledged last year that Sainz is a “great driver”, but decided to “look at all the various criteria and dynamics” when deciding on Verstappen’s new team-mate for 2025.

When it was put to Sainz at Suzuka in theory that Red Bull should have perhaps looked to sign him instead while he was still available, the now-Williams driver gave that idea short shrift.

“Well, everyone says it’s the toughest job in Formula 1 being obviously next to Max in a car that Max knows so well,” he replied. “I don’t know if that’s what people are talking [about].

“I guess it’s a good thing for me, but at the same time, I don’t care, because I’m in the place that I want to be right now, and in a good place also for my future for myself, and I cannot wait to see where we can get to with Williams.”

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