Carlos Sainz has revealed that he is not yet prepared to decide on his career trajectory post-Ferrari in Formula 1.
Reports from Barcelona last weekend indicated that the Spaniard was on the brink of making a choice between Williams, Audi-owned Sauber, and Alpine, the recent addition to the list of interested teams.
Mercedes has been ruled out as an option.
"Yes, we had discussions with Carlos," admitted team principal Toto Wolff to Sport1, "but we came to the decision that I didn't want to confirm it before the autumn. But the whole thing could be delayed until September, October, even November. We decided that it was better for them (Sainz) to do something different."
Kevin Magnussen described Sainz as the "cork in the bottle" of the driver market during his talks with the press in Barcelona, a sentiment echoed by current Sauber driver Guanyu Zhou in Austria.
"Then I think that will turn the driver market around a lot," Zhou stated.
"But before that, I think the guys who still haven't signed can't really give any clear answer or direction where they want to be."
Despite earlier hints that he might commit before the Austrian GP, Sainz, 29, has now stated he won't be ready even by Silverstone.
"During a triple (header), it is impossible to make a decision that is so important for my career in the few days in between races," he told journalists.
Williams, who recently seemed likely to secure Sainz's signature, announced on Thursday that it is welcoming 26 new members "from other F1 teams" to its Grove base, including the former Alpine technical chief Matt Harman.
Sainz indicated that other contenders for his services, perhaps Audi-Sauber, have made less convincing presentations.
"The situation I've found myself in this year has taught me a lot about Formula 1 in general," he remarked. "Talking to teams shown me how little you can sometimes trust what you hear at the start of negotiations."
With Sainz hesitating, Audi had considered options like Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson from Red Bull's roster, but the energy drink giant has since re-signed Tsunoda and, reportedly, promised Lawson a seat for 2025.
"We would have loaned out our best Formula 2 driver, (Isack) Hadjar," Dr. Helmut Marko disclosed to Blick newspaper.
Blick reporter Roger Benoit hinted that Felipe Drugovich might be a dark horse candidate for a seat with Sauber-Audi.
