13 March 2024 , 11:16
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Toto Wolff was spotted meeting with the agent and father of Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Spaniard is on the hunt for a new race seat for next year after Ferrari decided to sign Lewis Hamilton to replace him. And the seven-time world champion's impending departure from Mercedes means Wolff is searching for his replacement.
So it did not go unnoticed that Sainz's closest allies were seen with the Austrian in Jeddah last weekend. Team principal Wolff was seen chatting with Carlos Sainz Snr and the 29-year-old's manager Carlos Onorio.
Corriere dello Sport reports that Sainz's entourage spent "a long time" in the Mercedes hospitality unit. And the Italian outlet also claims negotiations have formally begun over a potential 2025 race seat deal.
Conversations between people from rival teams in the paddock are extremely common. Sainz said as much ahead of the Bahrain race earlier this month when he downplayed the significance of his father being spotted chatting with notable people.
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He said: "If you saw my dad went to say hello to Helmut Marko you need to remember he has a great relationship with him in the same way we have a good relationship with Toto. With everyone in the grid it is normal at this stage of the year. But also, we haven't seen each other for three or four months or so you're going say hello to each other."
That is certainly true and it is not currently known what was discussed in the meeting that took place in Jeddah. But, given Mercedes have one of the most attractive seats on the grid available for next year, it seems inconceivable that the topic was not mentioned at least briefly.
Rumours linking Sainz with the soon-to-be vacant Mercedes seat have swirled ever since Hamilton's future move was confirmed. But the Silver Arrows are far from the Spaniard's only option - he has held negotiations with Audi ahead of the formal start of their new F1 project in 2026, while Aston Martin have also been credited with interest.
He has plenty of time to decide where his F1 future lies and says he is in no rush to commit any time soon. He said: "[I am] looking for a project first that allows me to win and be performing as soon as possible, but also for sure looking at stability and how important stability is in a project in the medium to long term.
"To build a strong team and a team to understand the driver and the driver to understand the team. So with those two things in mind and those two things that you need to put into the equation, I will take my decision, taking my time accordingly."