The incredible comeback of Carlos Sainz could have put the final nail in Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull dreams

“Life is a rollercoaster.” Those were the words of Carlos Sainz as he reflected on an incredible third victory in Formula One, his first from outside pole and coming just two weeks after having his appendix removed. Add to that he is without a drive next year and is literally driving to survive and it becomes the much-needed tonic the sport needed amid Max Verstappen’s Red Bull domination. “What happened at the beginning of the year and the podium in Bahrain, then the appendix, the comeback, the win, a rollercoaster but I love it,” the Spaniard said post-race. “Of course, [I’m] a bit stiff, especially physically, it wasn’t the easiest, but I was lucky that I was more or less on my own.” It is inconceivable right now that Sainz will not be on the grid next year. There are already calls for Mercedes to sign him to replace Lewis Hamilton, the man who’s leaving Sainz without a job. But has his stunning start to the season opened the door to a return to Red Bull, having been a part of Torro Rosso racing alongside Max Verstappen? “Look, I mean based on a performance like that, you couldn’t rule any possibility out,” Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said. “I think we just want to take the time and obviously Checo (Sergio Perez) was compromised today, he has had a great start to the season, too, so we’re not in any desperate rush. “Carlos is the only driver that has beaten Red Bull (since the start of last year) so he appears to be our nemesis. “Congratulations to Carlos on losing an appendix and winning very dominantly here.” Indeed Sainz is the only driver to appear on the winners list other than Verstappen in the last 11 months following his Singapore victory last season. If Sainz is in the mix it could spell disaster for Daniel Ricciardo who fought gamely to finish 12th but was left to rue a mistake in qualifying that saw him start at the back of the grid. Horner revealed he had offered some encouragement to Ricciardo showing there is at least still a soft spot for the Australian. “He had a tough weekend, I haven’t really looked at his race, it looked like he had pretty similar pace to Yuki in the race obviously,” Horner said. “He had a tough day yesterday getting that lap disallowed, so I just want to give him a bit of encouragement. “He’s a big boy, he will pick himself up. But sometimes being a Formula 1 driver can be a bit lonely so a bit of encouragement is never a bad thing.” Ricciardo has had a poor start to the season, outqualified by his teammate in all three races and outraced in Jeddah and Melbourne. To add salt to the wound his teammate Yuki Tsunoda could have hardly asked for a better weekend qualifying in eighth, where retirements in front allowed him to finish, before a post-race penalty to Fernando Alonso pushed him to seventh. It gives team RB six crucial World Championship points, their first of the season, and only adds to the mountain of pressure on Ricciardo. Horner would not rule anyone out of contention at this stage but it appears the Australian is nowhere near the front of the pack. “I think it is still very early in the year to even be thinking about next year,” Horner said. “Yuki (Tsunoda) is a very quick driver, we know that. But I think we want to field the best pairing that we can in Red Bull Racing and sometimes you have got to look outside the pool as well.”