'Bad luck...': Red Bull adviser spills the beans on 'toxic' teammates Sainz & Verstappen

Red Bull Racing team advisor Helmut Marko has opened up on the toxic relationship that Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz had during their time at Toro Rosso. While the Dutchman continued to stay with the Red Bull family by growing up the ranks and moving to the senior team, the Spaniard eventually left the outfit to join Renault in 2017 switching to McLaren in 2019 and now with Ferrari in 2021.

Marko reveals how Verstappen & Sainz had a toxic relationship

While speaking in an interview to The Red Bulletin, Helmut Marko said, "It was his (Sainz’s) bad luck to get Max as a teammate. The atmosphere between the two at Toro Rosso was quite toxic. In the set-up 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." Verstappen and Sainz made their debut in Red Bull's junior team, Toro Rosso, in 2015 after progressing via the side's young driver programme.

The Red Bull advisor went on to add that the pressure of competing with Verstappen was not the only struggle that Sainz faced, as he also had to carry the weight of being the son of a motorsport legend, Carlos Sainz Sr. "For a long time he lived in the shadow of his father, the two-time world rally champion," added Marko. "He was unfairly saddled with the image of being the spoilt son of a racing driver whereas, on the contrary, Carlos had to fight consistently to get ahead."

Marko also went on to add that there was massive disapproval when Verstappen was promoted to the senior Red Bull team in 2016 instead of Sainz. "There was an outcry because some felt Carlos had been overlooked," added Marko. "His development was also very good and the difference between the two was often very minimal, but despite having less experience Max was the faster driver, hence our decision to move him to Red Bull Racing."

Image: AP, Instagram@ScuderiaFerrari