Johnny Herbert has said that he thinks Red Bull should sign up Carlos Sainz for 2017.

The former Formula 1 driver made waves in Bahrain recently, when he urged Fernando Alonso to take the opportunity of his chest injuries to quit the sport.

Now he has bucked the trend of predicting a rapid promotion to Red Bull next year for Max Verstappen by urging the energy drink outfit to in fact give the seat to his Toro Rosso teammate Carlos Sainz.

"Both are very good and very fast," Herbert told Spanish sports newspaper Marca.

"As I said before, they're the future. I think Carlos is smarter than Verstappen, I see him using his head better, perhaps because Max is younger, but both are very good. But looking ahead, if I had to sign one of the two, I would choose Sainz.

"If the decision is taken by Helmut Marko then I don't know what will happen, because sometimes his decisions with the drivers are a bit strange."

Sainz has earned two points so far this season, compared to Verstappen's nine.