Carlos Sainz is currently on a ‘loan’ deal at Renault from his parent team Red Bull. Sainz left Toro Rosso mid-way through last year but remained under contract with Red Bull.
Sainz finished 5th in the Baku race, this is the highest finish of the season so for the Spaniard. But Renault’s managing director, Abiteboul suggested the team are getting ready for his departure back to Red Bull if Daniel Ricciardo makes a move.
“We need to make plans, we need to be prepared for the worse as always,” Abiteboul said to Reuters.
“So the worst for us would be that we would want to stay with Carlos and that’s not possible.”
He also confirmed that car preparations for 2019 are now well underway. It will be advantageous for the team to know who their driver is for next season, so they can adapt the car to suit.
“We had a meeting this week to talk about the plan for next year, the objectives - the early concept of the 2019 car,” added Abiteboul.
“It’s a clear sign we are now thinking about that, in the back of our mind, he may not be with us.”
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