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F1 Austrian Grand Prix: Tost expects Sainz future ‘will be confirmed soon’

Carlos Sainz will have his future at Toro Rosso "confirmed soon", according to team principal Franz Tost.

The Toro Rosso line-up was changed earlier this season as Max Verstappen moved to Red Bull, swapping place with Daniil Kvyat, but while Sainz missed out on a promotion at that point, he has impressed in the races since and Tost confirmed the Spaniard is set to stay for a third season at Toro Rosso.

"I always am talking about a three-year programme," Tost said at the FIA Sport Conference in Turin. "I don't see any problem there because it depends always what's going on at Red Bull Racing and Red Bull Racing for next season is full with Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.

"It looks like and I personally hope that this is the case that Carlos Sainz will stay with Toro Rosso. I think this will be confirmed soon. It's also a good possibility for Carlos to show his talent and I hope that our car next year is very competitive that he will not find any disadvantages compared to another team."

Adding that the decision regarding Sainz is "in Red Bull's corner", Tost also said he would be happy to retain Kvyat alongside the 21-year-old in 2017.

"We will see. The driver line-up at Toro Rosso for next year is not 100% decided yet. I expect Carlos will stay with us. Personally I would hope that also Daniil Kvyat will stay with us because he is a really good driver, but he has to feel well. Then we will see what the future holds."

And Tost is happy with the way the current pair work together, although he dismissed Sainz's previous claims the atmosphere has changed for the better at Toro Rosso since the driver swap.

"I think that we have quite a good professional atmosphere, but it's important that the drivers feel good. I don't see or I haven't observed a big change." 

Zdroj: crash.net