Carlos Sainz Jr admitted it was with his best intentions in mind that he remained with the Scuderia Toro Rosso team for 2017 despite interest coming from the Renault Sport Formula 1 Team.
The Spaniard admitted that he was flattered that a team such as Renault would be interested in his services, but after conversations with his team and with his Red Bull Racing counterparts, it was decided remaining at Toro Rosso was the best option for him, at least in the short term.
Sainz, who has also been linked with the vacant drive at the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team, is hopeful that the decision to reject a move away from Toro Rosso will ultimately turn out to be the right one.
“When you get such an interesting and good offer from a future top team, like Renault, it’s not easy to take that decision,” said Sainz to Autosport. “But in the end, together with Red Bull and after some conversations we came to a conclusion that the best for me was to do an extra year at Toro Rosso.
“After not signing an interesting offer at a top team, this gives me the tranquillity. If I keep performing in this way and improving, I’m sure opportunities will open up and I will try my best for this to happen, and to make my way into a top team.
“For now, I’m happy and hopefully I’ve taken the right decision to go with them.”
