Carlos Sainz has known for some time that he will not race for Ferrari next year, with the team instead opting for a line-up of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
That is despite the Spanish driver being the only Scuderia driver to win a grand prix in the past two seasons, with Leclerc winless since the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix.
Options for Sainz in 2025 included potentially moving to Aston Martin to replace Fernando Alonso, taking over Hamilton's seat at Mercedes or moving to Stake ahead of Audi's arrival in 2026.
Audi is known to have made Sainz a big-money offer but whilst he considers that, he is also looking at other options - but another door has potentially closed, this time at Mercedes.
Toto Wolff is keen to take his time when it comes to selecting Hamilton's replacement, but Sky Sports News has reported that this will not be Sainz - as Wolff openly courts Max Verstappen from Red Bull.
Should he fail to land the world champion, then Wolff is likely to plump for F2 protege Andrea Kimi Antonelli to partner George Russell.
Despite potentially missing out on the Aston Martin and Mercedes seats, Sainz is still interested in a drive at Red Bull, potentially replacing the out of contract Sergio Perez, or even Verstappen if he did decide to jump ship to Brackley.
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