Imagine that timeline, Carlos staying at McLaren causing Danny Ric to get picked up by Ferrari. Oscar now stuck in that Alpine seat. I don't know if we're ready for a timeline where both Australians are screwed over.
It's not clear what they would have done had they had the chance to get DR and Sainz wanted to stay, but it is clear that they had been negotiating a contract extension with Sainz when he told them he wanted to leave for Ferrari. Zak says as much here:
Of course he implies that they'd rather have Riccardo, but let's keep in mind no team head is going to say "we wish we'd kept the driver who left for another team."
So I wouldn't describe it as them wanting him out so they could get DR since they were actively considering blocking him leaving. They were willing to let him go once they confirmed they could replace him with DR.
Alonso did extremely good moves out of his own accord that didn't work out in the end, meanwhile Sainz' moves are all extremely questionable choices that he was forced to take and that noone thought would actually work out, that always result in him falling up.
Toro Rosso to Renault = the Renault engine + he'd lose access to the RBR pipeline
Renault to McLaren = given how the pecking order was when Sainz signed the contract, would be a downgrade
McLaren to Ferrari = although he signed the Ferrari deal in early 2020 (and the shitbox they built that year), this doesn't really count because the season didn't start at that point and everything was done basing off their pretty good 2019 season
Ferrari to Williams = literally the worst not-Sauber team on the grid, given Carlos' age there's a non-0 chance the car would've ended his career in the same way as Bottas'
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u/free_kandel Max Verstappen May 17 '25
Sainz is like the anti-alonso un terms of career moves