Helmut Marko confirms that Red Bull has held talks with Carlos Sainz with a view to him returning to 'the family'.

Linked with both Audi and Mercedes, Sainz, who will be replaced by Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari next year, has also been linked with Red Bull, either replacing Sergio Perez - should the Mexican fail to deliver - or even Max Verstappen should the conspiracy theorists be proven correct.

Sainz previously drove for Toro Rosso alongside Verstappen, but following the decision to promote the Dutchman to the 'big team' to replace Daniil Kvyat, the Spaniard agreed a deal with Renault for 2018 but actually ended up joining the French team towards the end of 2017 following its decision to drop Jolyon Palmer.

Speaking to Kleine Zeitung, Marko admits to talking to Sainz but claims Red Bull would be unable to offer the sort of money Audi is prepared to put on the table for the Spaniard.

"We are speaking with him," admits the Austrian, "he is driving his best season in Formula 1. But he has a lucrative offer from Audi, which we cannot match or beat."

Despite talking to Sainz, Marko admits that current incumbent, Sergio Perez, remains the best option.

It is clear that Checo is currently having his best season since he has been with us," Marko added.

"If he can keep up these performances, especially qualifying in Japan, then he is definitely the best option for Red Bull in 2025," he said. "He is a team player and has now realised that his radical approach in terms of set-up last year was the wrong one. Now he has a set-up much more similar to Max's."

While it is increasingly looking as though Daniel Ricciardo is ruling himself out of promotion, the news that talks were held with Sainz will come as a blow to Liam Lawson.

"We have in Liam Lawson as reserve driver a strong driver in the team, who is contractually free to race for another team if he doesn't get a seat with us in 2025," said Marko. "In this regard it would of course be exciting for us if we could see him already in F1 this year, to give ourselves an even clearer picture. But this is a complex topic, one must wait and see how it goes."

While there has been talk of Ricciardo being dropped after Miami - in favour of Lawson - should he fail to raise his game, this has been repeatedly denied by all involved.

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