Max Verstappen forced team-mate to quit after 'atmosphere turned toxic'
Max Verstappen was involved in a 'toxic' partnership during his early days at Toro Rosso.
Helmut Marko has already offered an insight into the 'toxic' relationship between Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz when they were team-mates at Toro Rosso. The two drivers raced alongside each other for Red Bull's junior outfit in 2015, with Verstappen claiming almost three times as many points as Sainz during the season.
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There is a possibility that Sainz could reunite with Verstappen at Red Bull next year, with the Spaniard looking for a drive ahead of his Ferrari spell coming to an end. It has been speculated that he could replace Sergio Perez if the latter fails to justify keeping his seat into 2025 and beyond.
Such a move would risk reopening old wounds, though, with Marko explaining in January that things quickly turned sour between Verstappen and Sainz at Toro Rosso.
The Austrian said of Sainz: "For a long time, he lived in the shadow of his father, the two-time world rally champion. He was unfairly saddled with the image of being the spoiled son of a racing driver whereas on the contrary, Carlos had to fight consistently to get ahead.
"It was his bad luck to get Max as a team-mate. The atmosphere between the two at Toro Rosso was quite toxic. In the setup we had at the time, I couldn't see a way of keeping him with us and so he moved to Renault, McLaren and then on to Ferrari."
Sainz went on to bounce back despite the issues at Toro Rosso and is now considered one of the best drivers on the grid. He was the only driver outside of Red Bull to win a race last year, while his latest triumph in Australia means he is the only one apart from Verstappen to claim victory in 2024.
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The 29-year-old is likely to attract plenty of interest from other teams in the coming months thanks to his impressive start to the current campaign. He has already been linked with a move to Stake, who will become the Audi works team in 2026, but Christian Horner recently hinted that he could be targeted by Red Bull if Perez is relieved of his duties.
"We want to field the best pairing we can with Red Bull Racing so sometimes you have got to look outside the pool as well," said Horner last weekend. "The market is reasonably fluid in certain parts. I mean, based on a performance like that, you couldn’t rule any possibility out so I think we just want to take the time."
