Carlos Sainz believes his 2026 F1 season is shaping up to be one of the strongest of his career. He crossed the line P12 at his home race in Barcelona, outside the points. With Williams struggling to compete near the front in 2026, Sainz has frequently found himself in similar positions. Nevertheless, the Spaniard left the weekend encouraged by the level he has shown throughout the opening stages of the season.
Speaking after the race, Sainz reflected on a campaign built on consistency and maximising every opportunity. He believes the results have not always reflected his performances.
Sainz believes the 2026 F1 season is among his strongest campaigns
Despite often finding himself outside the points, Sainz feels his performances have been among his best. He pointed to the setbacks in Australia as rare occasions where circumstances limited his potential.
“I think I’m having a very solid year, if you compare all the way to Australia free practice before I had the issue in the quali that I couldn’t go out and in the race with the front wing, every single race this year I’ve been on it,” Sainz stated.
Sainz went on to describe his 2026 F1 season as one of his most complete campaigns in F1 so far. He also praised his engineering team for maintaining motivation despite Williams not fighting for top-five finishes or podiums.
“I’ve been doing so far one of my strongest years probably in Formula 1. Very happy with my engineering team, the way we are approaching the year, the way we are keeping motivation up even when we are not fighting for much, we are still maximising every race, every point scoring situation that we’ve got it, so I’m proud of that.”
Sainz explains why strong performances can go unnoticed
Sainz has consistently extracted the maximum available to him, with the FW48 simply not up to par compared to an impressive 2025 season with the FW47. Yet, the four-time race winner acknowledged that F1 naturally directs attention towards drivers fighting for victories and podiums.
“Unfortunately just in F1 it’s a very tough sport, because if you are not fighting for points or top 5s or podiums, people maybe don’t see it or don’t really focus on it, because everyone looks at the top 10 or the top 5.
“So it’s a good year for me so far, but it’s true that you will not shine very much if you are not in the top 10,” Sainz concluded.
The results may not always reflect it, but Carlos Sainz remains convinced he and Williams continue to maximise every opportunity. As the season heads to Spielberg, the Spaniard believes the 2026 F1 season already ranks among the strongest campaigns of his career.
