New Formula Renault champion in contention to partner Verstappen
Tuesday 25 November 2014 17:40, UK
2015 Toro Rosso contender Carlos Sainz Jr will test for the senior Red Bull team at next week’s post-season Abu Dhabi test.
The 20-year-old Spaniard has officially been handed the honour of opening the test in the RB10 as a reward for winning this year’s Formula Renault 3.5 Series title last month. Sainz, who defeated fellow Red Bull junior Pierre Gasly to become the youngest champion in the category’s history, will also likely be evaluated for any race or test role at the company's stable of teams in 2015.
Sainz, the son of rally legend Carlos Snr, was recently named by Toro Rosso chief Franz Tost as one of four drivers under consideration to partner teenage protege Max Verstappen in the Red Bull junior outfit’s 2015 F1 race line-up.
“I think the drivers that are shortlisted for Toro Rosso are: Jean-Eric [Vergne], Carlos Sainz, Pierre Gasly and Alex Lynn,” Tost revealed.
Sainz first tested for Red Bull at last year’s Silverstone Young Driver Test and earlier this season was linked to a race seat at Caterham.
The two-day test, which takes place on the Tuesday and Wednesday after this weekend’s Abu Dhabi GP, will represent the start of Red Bull’s post-Sebastian Vettel era with the quadruple World Champion having decided to quit the team. Daniel Ricciardo, the outfit’s effective new team leader for 2015, will take over from Sainz in the RB10 on Wednesday.
Vettel, who is set to join Ferrari next season, has been barred from driving in the Yas Marina test for his new employers with his Red Bull contract not expiring until five days after the season finale.
Toro Rosso have previously confirmed that Verstappen will drive on both days of the test in their 2014 charger.
