Carlos Sainz says his former Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto taking charge of Audi's Formula 1 programme doesn't influence his future team choice.
The Spaniard is known to have had an offer from Audi on the table for several months as it prepares its 2026 works entry following its takeover of Sauber.
Sainz has been keen to keep his options open though, also entertaining a bid from Williams and an eleventh-hour offer from Alpine.
While Sainz has been mulling over his final decision, the situation of the teams he has been talking to has been in constant flux.
Alpine is edging towards ditching its engine programme for Mercedes customer status, which might make the Enstone-based team more attractive to Sainz.
On Tuesday, Audi announced it had parted ways with Oliver Hoffmann and Andreas Seidl, the team's chairman and CEO respectively, installing former Ferrari team principal Binotto as the F1 project's single leader from 1 August.
Binotto brought Sainz from McLaren to Ferrari in 2021, with the pair working together in Maranello until the Italian's exit at the end of the 2022 season.
But while Sainz praised Binotto's arrival at the squad, he said it wouldn't impact his decision-making.
"I think the arrival of Mattia to any team is positive, mainly because he has the experience of what it takes to build a top team nowadays, like Ferrari," Sainz said ahead of this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix.
"He has that experience from Ferrari that he can bring into Audi and I'm sure it's a great asset for them and that's why they hired him."
"Mattia's arrival is good news for them, but it's not going to have too much influence on my future."
When asked by Spanish broadcaster DAZN if he had been in contact with Binotto since his appointment, Sainz replied: "A lot of people are calling me now, not only Mattia, but yes, of course, we have spoken. I have congratulated him because I think it is the ideal position for him at this moment."
Sainz reiterated that he wouldn't be pressured into making a decision any time soon as he continues to hold what is left of F1's driver market under lock and key.
"I think my future is still being discussed and, obviously, analysed very carefully," he added. "There are changes to a lot of teams that I'm looking at for next year, pretty much every week.
"There's evolution on the team market as much as there is on the driver market and I'm just going to keep giving myself time to take the decision, to analyse all these things that keep changing."
