Abiteboul: Sainz future depends on Red Bull talks

May 13 - Renault has admitted it might lose Carlos Sainz at the end of 2018.

Boss Cyril Abiteboul told Marca sports newspaper that the Spaniard is a "potential world champion".

But he is only 'on loan' from Red Bull -- and Renault is considering switching from Renault to Honda power for 2019.

"It is not a secret that if Carlos is with us today, it is possible because of what we share with Red Bull and that is part of the conversations we have now with Helmut Marko," said Abiteboul.

"I would be surprised if we did not talk about it in the conversations about the engine, but that hasn't begun yet," he added.

Sainz's father, rallying legend Carlos Sainz, echoed Abiteboul's words about the 23-year-old's future.

"Unfortunately he is in a situation in which his future does not depend on him," Sainz snr said.

"I hope that soon he can sign a contract that gives him two years, instead of getting to the fourth place and having to discuss what he will do next year.

"Until now he has not been able to work with tranquillity," he added.

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Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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