Mercedes Willing to Hold the Door Open For Carlos Sainz
Credits: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire

After Mercedes and Red Bull seemingly shut the doors for Carlos Sainz, Williams and Audi had become his only two options. Alpine recently joined the race following Flavio Briatore’s appointment as the Executive Advisor. Sainz’s indecisiveness gave the French team the opportunity to make an offer. Now, Mercedes has also returned and left the door open for the Spaniard.

“I don’t want to make a rushed decision. But yes. If we have more time to decide, Carlos is definitely still an opportunity. But Carlos needs to make a decision about what he’s gonna do with other teams”, said Toto Wolff according to Mundo Deportivo.

While Wolff wants to bring Antonelli into F1 next year, many pundits believe it is too early for the young Italian to join F1, let alone a top team like Mercedes. With all the top drivers already confirmed, Sainz might be Wolff’s last resort if Antonelli isn’t able to make it.

The Spaniard always wanted a top team after the Ferrari exit but the options just kept closing one by one. Mercedes reportedly offered Sainz a 1+1 year deal earlier this year. The additional year was apparently based on some performance clauses in the contract. However, Sainz wanted a long-term deal and wasn’t happy with Mercedes’ offer.

Wolff and Co. are probably offering the 1+1 contract to keep a seat ready for Antonelli and to make sure a repeat of Red Bull signing Max Verstappen didn’t happen. As Wolff now mentioned, Sainz needs to decide what he’s going to do with the offers from other teams. The Mercedes CEO isn’t going to be making a decision anytime soon and the #55 driver would have to wait.

On the other hand, drivers and teams are pressing Sainz to decide so that the other pieces can start falling into place. Sainz’s recent activity suggests that he’s even in favor of getting a two-year Mercedes contract.

Guenther Steiner reveals what is going on inside Sainz’s mind as social media activity hints at masterplan

Guenther Steiner on the Red Flags podcast advised that Carlos Sainz still hasn’t made up his mind. The problem is the fact that Sainz only has the options from backmarker teams. The Spaniard doesn’t want to end up signing a long-term contract and being stuck with a backmarker during his prime years.

Therefore, Sainz is looking for a deal where he can get out of a contract if the team isn’t performing well. Alpine is reported to have offered a release clause in their contract. On the other hand, a user on Instagram posted about Antonelli going to Williams and getting F1 experience for a couple of years while Sainz moved to Mercedes for those two years.

A couple of months ago, even Nico Rosberg advised Antonelli to make a Williams move before stepping in Mercedes. The intriguing part was the fact that Sainz liked the post of the user suggesting his move to Mercedes. With Antonelli still not performing at the level he expected to in F2, Mercedes might very well be an option for Sainz.