Carlos Sainz has revealed how Red Bull threatened the end of his F1 dream if he did not win a junior series title in 2014.
Sainz joined the Red Bull junior driver's programme in 2010, first driving F1 machinery at the 2013 young driver test at Silverstone in the form of that year's Toro Rosso, and the RB9 car that would take Sebastian Vettel to his fourth straight title later in the year.
Up to that point, Sainz had endured a middling junior career, with his only title success being the 2011 Formula Renault 2.0 championship, beating Daniil Kvyat and Stoffel Vandoorne.
By 2014, he was on the cusp of losing his Red Bull backing and was placed in Formula Renault 3.5, a leading junior series that rivalled what was then GP2, now modern-day FIA Formula 2.
Against a field the included Pierre Gasly, Oliver Rowland, Sergey Sirotkin, and a part-time campaign from Esteban Ocon, Sainz romped to the title with seven wins, enough to earn a Toro Rosso F1 drive alongside fellow teenage rookie Max Verstappen for 2015.
Reflecting on the ultimatum given by Red Bull, Sainz revealed how he turned to his father, Carlos Senior for help.
"I remember I was starting to get close to Formula 1, it was those one or two years before making it, and Red Bull told me, 'Okay, next year is your last chance, you go into (Formula Renault 3.5), and you either win or there is no space for you in Formula 1," he told Rolling Stone.
"I'm 18-19 years old, so you feel the pressure and I suddenly realised that from believing I was always going to make it because you are naive when you are younger, you say, 'I have the talent, I'm winning, I'm going to make it', that I might not.
"I was lucky to have my dad, who was already world champion at the time saying, 'This is what you are missing to be world champion' and I won [FR3.5] and I made it to Formula 1.
"But if I hadn't done that switch, and if I didn't have my dad there to help and guide me to go up in my preparation, I wouldn't be where I am now."
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