I don’t think Sainz is doing poorly or anything, but he’s hardly setting the world on fire either. I’m not sure the leverage is particularly in his favour here, Ferrari have Leclerc already and there’s several drivers of at least the same or similar calibre to Sainz who they could look at as alternatives. So I’m not sure the threat really works. Not saying they’d definitely be looking elsewhere off their own back, just that if that’s his attitude they have no reason not to and they’d find other ways to go. Why rock the boat?

I think at this point the most likely scenario in this regard is that if Daniel seems up to what they’re looking for pace-wise in the tests he’s doing, they’ll look to slot him into Alpha Tauri next year with a view to having him firmly on deck if they wind up needing to make a change with Perez. Checo has definitely been underwhelming this year, but I think it’s only if he’s still underperforming next year that he faces the prospect of anything drastic. And on a similar line, De Vries seems like he’ll probably see out this year, but if things don’t improve for him then he’s who I’d expect to be moved aside for 2024 should they want to give Daniel a race seat.