Nationality: Spanish
Birthday: 1 September 1994
Current team: Williams
Previous teams: Toro Rosso, Renault, McLaren, Ferrari
Number: 55
Strengths: Decisions, awareness, confidence, racecraft
Weaknesses: Lacks a tenth in qualifying compared to top rivals, fragile ego
Strongest tracks: Texas, Monaco, Singapore
Weakest tracks: Belgium, Netherlands, Italy
Statistics
Grand Prix wins: 4
Pole Positions: 6
Fastest laps: 4
Podiums: 29
World Championships: 0
F1 teammate record H2H
Total Q record: 112-120
Total R record: 108-115
| Teammate | Q record | R record |
| Albon (2025-26) | 18-9 | 12-15 |
| Leclerc (2021-24) | 33-56 | 33-51 |
| Norris (2019-20) | 18-19 | 21-16 |
| Hülkenberg (2017-18) | 12-13 | 12-12 |
| Gasly (2017) | 2-0 | 0-2 |
| Kvyat (2016-17) | 19-12 | 21-7 |
| Verstappen (2015-16) | 10-11 | 9-12 |
Pre-F1 championship results
Won Formula Renault 3.5 (2014)
5th in European F3 (2012)
2nd in Formula Renault 2.0 (2011)
Career analysis
Despite a significant family history in racing, Carlos Sainz Jr did not appear to be a future superstar until his Formula Renault 3.5 campaign in 2014. But his great performances in this series led to a quick F1 promotion with Toro Rosso in 2015, where he faced Max Verstappen and performed admirably.
While Verstappen was selected over Sainz by Red Bull in the early parts of 2016, the Spaniard did not let it get to him. He had incredible performances for Toro Rosso over the next year and a half, extracting the maximum potential of the car in the races. A promotion to Red Bull still appeared highly unlikely, so Sainz decided to jump ship to Renault. It started out great with a 7th place in his first race with Renault, but he lost by point count to Nico Hülkenberg the following year and Sainz was then seen as an ‘average but not fantastic driver’.
He was forced out of Renault ahead of 2019, but this proved to be a blessing in disguise as he reinvented himself and performed better than ever at McLaren. Beating Lando Norris in races (21-16) is very impressive in hindsight, although there’s no doubt Norris mainly developed in his third season, after Sainz left.
Ahead of 2021, he signed with Ferrari to replace Sebastian Vettel. Big shoes to fill, and Sainz had to face Charles Leclerc and was expected to lose that battle. That did end up happening, but Sainz performed much better than anticipated and was often close to Leclerc, sometimes beating him to a pole or a win whenever the Ferrari was strong and the Monégasque had an off-day.
At Williams, he faced a tough start as new teammate Alex Albon began the season in great form. Sainz eventually caught up, and he was the only driver for a midfield team who scored two podiums.
Sainz is now well-established as a top 10 driver in the current field – and possibly a top 7 driver, at least when he’s at his best. Sainz lacks a bit in qualifying but is an excellent racer who extracts almost maximum performance in racepace and is probably the top driver of the pack when it comes to awareness and decision-making under pressure. He is truly excellent at that.
It’s worth noting that Sainz was not wanted by the top teams, despite the fact that he’s a very talented driver. He is notorious for putting himself above the team. Sainz has a big ego, possibly a fragile ego that needs to be managed by the team. It’s well known that his family handles most of his affairs; getting a professional manager and proper coaching could help him in the future.
He will have to beat Alex Albon thoroughly in 2026 if he ever wants to return to a top team. As he left Ferrari on good terms, it’s possible that he could return to the Scuderia one day if circumstances are right.
