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F1 Hungarian GP: Sainz retains Red Bull goal, flattered by Ferrari, Renault links

Carlos Sainz has spoken of his pride and honour to be linked with Ferrari and Renault but is focusing on his future inside the Red Bull fold.

The Spanish driver officially signed a new deal to remain with Red Bull for the 2017 F1 season and is presumed to compete with the Toro Rosso squad for a third consecutive campaign.

However, recent reports in Spain have suggested Red Bull may trade Sainz to Renault in order to secure a better power unit deal for next season, but the Spaniard has played down these links.

Having received interest from both Ferrari and Renault Sainz says it is a huge compliment for his efforts since breaking on to the F1 scene last year but feels for the immediate future he will stay focused on a Red Bull race seat.

"It's a compliment that Ferrari is interested, it's a compliment that Renault is interested," Sainz said. "At the end it's manufacturers, and at the end it's manufacturers that rule Formula One and they are here to stay.

"To get the interest from such an important manufacturer like Renault is of course. I feel a lot of pride for it and I am not going to deny it, it makes me feel happy."

"I am very comfortable in Toro Rosso, I have a lot of support from the big bosses, which is important for me to have the support Helmut Marko, Christian Horner and Franz Tost.

"They trust me a lot and it's the right place to be, the people trust you, you have James Key also in Toro Rosso, who, next year could surprise many people with the new regulations. I'm sure next year Toro Rosso is not a bad place to be and in any case it could be a good place also with the links with Red Bull and everything going on."

Sainz's path to the Red Bull Racing squad appears blocked for at least the next two seasons after Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo signed new deals with the team until the end of 2018.

Despite this, the Spaniard isn't feeling deterred and believes if he keeps pushing and applying pressure in terms of results an opportunity could arise.

Earlier this year Daniil Kvyat was demoted from Red Bull to Toro Rosso with Verstappen heading in the opposite direction after just the fourth race of the year in Sochi with Red Bull wanting its strongest driver pairing while also warning off interest from Ferrari for Verstappen.

"They have contracts until 2018 but Red Bull also told me that of course I need to be pushing," Sainz said. "I need to keep creating my own opportunities and you never know what can happen in F1, so that's because I will never stop pushing 100 per cent, even if there are contracts until 2025!"

Zdroj: crash.net