Toro Rosso has confirmed that Carlos Sainz will remain with the team for the 2017 season, having taken up his 12-month contract extension option earlier in the week. This puts an end to the recent rumors which have linked him to Kimi Räikkönen’s Ferrari seat in 2017.
The news was confirmed by Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, during a media event on Wednesday ahead of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix. This means that Sainz is obligated to remain with the team until the end of 2017. Red Bull still has the right within their drivers’ contracts to swap them between Red Bull and Toro Rosso, as we saw with Daniil Kvyat and Max Verstappen.
It’s unlikely that Sainz will advance to Red Bull in the years to come, seeing as both Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo are under contract until the end of 2018, at which point Sainz’s contract will have been expired for a year.
It has not yet been confirmed whether Kvyat will remain with Toro Rosso for 2017, although it does seem to be the case. There aren’t any foreseeable openings on other teams at the moment and there are no obvious candidates to replace Kvyat’s Toro Rosso seat.
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