Disagreement between Horner and Marko: 'Improper to say that'

Christian Horner and Helmut Marko are still not on the same page. While Marko previously mentioned that Carlos Sainz is not feasible for Red Bull Racing, Horner called that improper speculation during the press conference.

With an expiring contract for Sergio Perez, it is only natural that Red Bull Racing are looking at the driver market. The Mexican is doing well now, but plenty of other drivers would like to switch to sit alongside Max Verstappen. Marko, for instance, claimed that Red Bull had already held talks with Sainz but could not match Audi's bid. Horner calls those statements pure speculation.

"As for (the question about) other drivers, that is pure speculation. We have no idea if and what Audi have offered Carlos, who's a key driver on the open market, and so it's only natural that there's going to be significant interest. And I'm sure Audi would be foolish not to consider a driver of his quality amongst the others available," said the Red Bull team boss at the press conference.

Have Audi already spoken to Sainz?

"But it would be improper to disclose what offers are made, and it's something that's not been disclosed to us as to what offers have been made from other teams," Horner contradicts Red Bull Racing's top adviser. Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Stake F1 Team's team representative, also declined to comment.

"I don't comment about speculation. Every driver is speaking with a lot of teams to understand the situation. But we are focused on our drivers and we respect our drivers. We have to start performing better as a team first. The main target and the priority for the team is start scoring points. And then to approach the driver's market, starting with a discussion with our drivers and then having open eyes on the market."

"I fully agree with what [Horner] said. It's not appropriate to discuss or to disclose the potential discussion in place. No one really knows what other teams are offering. Sometimes we don't want to be part of a game that is done by others."