Toro Rosso considering Sainz for 2015

Red Bull has not denied that Carlos Sainz jr is the obvious choice to replace Daniil Kvyat in 2015.

Suzuka and the sport was rocked on Saturday when it emerged Sebastian Vettel is leaving Red Bull's senior team, with the 20-year-old Russian Kvyat to replace him.

"I was very honoured," Kvyat told the BBC on Saturday, "and very surprised."

It leaves a gap at Toro Rosso, Red Bull's junior team, who had already announced that Kvyat would be racing at Faenza alongside rookie teen Max Verstappen next year.

Until the Verstappen news, 20-year-old Spaniard Sainz, whose father and namesake is the well-known world rally legend, had been the favourite to step up at Toro Rosso in 2015.

He is expected to wrap up the Formula Renault 3.5 championship later this month.

Christian Horner, the team boss at Red Bull's senior team, was asked by the Spanish daily AS on Saturday if Sainz will now be stepping up at Toro Rosso.

"We'll see what happens with Carlos," he answered. "It's something to talk about.

"We always look to talent and try to make the right decision," Horner 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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