But what if Vowles and Horner were not discussing only Colapinto? What if there were other options? The obvious best seat for Carlos Sainz after finding out he was being replaced at Ferrari by Hamilton was always Red Bull. But there seemed to be no real appetite there to recruit him, despite Horner volunteering after his victory in Melbourne that he was an obvious candidate (this was before Perez’s contract had been extended). At a time when Jos Verstappen was making noises about Max leaving Red Bull, there was a concern not to do anything which might precipitate that. Such as recruiting Sainz, for example, potentially re-igniting the friction between the Verstappen and Sainz camps last seen when they were rookies at Toro Rosso. So Sainz went ahead and signed for Williams. But why would Horner be trying to sign Sainz now that he would have to buy him out of a very expensive Williams contract, when he didn’t sign him when he was free? It makes no obvious sense.
But what if the discussion wasn’t about Sainz or Colapinto? What if it was about Alex Albon? What if Horner’s whole pitch to Vowles was: “Look, you now have the guaranteed performance of Sainz and a greatly promising rookie in Colapinto. Why don’t you release Alex to us. It would be seamless and you’d receive a good payment?”
Albon remained highly-rated by Red Bull even after it released him at the end of 2020. He just wasn’t experienced enough to be put alongside Verstappen and in a highly demanding car. It remained totally convinced of his potential – something which has been vindicated with his performances at Williams since. He’s still considered part of the Red Bull family despite there no longer being any formal ties.
Could the guy who was replaced by Perez be the guy who replaces Perez? There could be a sting in the tale yet.