Head-to-head · season 2026

AlexanderAlbonWilliams vs CarlosSainzWilliams

SAI leads the grade duel 10–3 — across the 13 rounds both were rated in, the car stripped out of the equation.

VS
#16The Index · 7.29
P20DI championship · 17 pts
0best-of-race
P17official · 5 pts
#9The Index · 8.51
P9DI championship · 74 pts
0best-of-race
P15official · 6 pts

Alexander Albon vs Carlos Sainz: who is driving better in 2026?

the verdict, from the numbers

Alexander Albon and Carlos Sainz are Williams team mates this season, which makes this the cleanest comparison in Formula 1: two drivers, the same machinery, the same strategy calls. Carlos Sainz leads on The Index, 8.51 to 7.29 — P9 against P16, a gap of 1.22 of a grade point. Round by round, Carlos Sainz has out-driven the other in 10 of 13 races where both were graded. Alexander Albon's clearest advantage is Attack & Defence — 7.34 against 6.87. Carlos Sainz takes Qualifying back the other way, 9.32 to 6.69. They are effectively inseparable on Tyre Management. In the DriverIndex Championship — the same season paid on the official points scale, but on driver merit — Carlos Sainz sits P9 on 74 points to Alexander Albon's P20 on 17. Officially they stand P15 and P17.

The nine dimensions

season averages, mirrored — the longer bar wins the metric
8.15 B Race Pace 8.59
7.97 C Consistency 7.66
7.34 D Attack & Defence 6.87
8.01 E Tyre Management 8.04
6.69 F Qualifying 9.32
7.99 G Race Start 9.04
7.15 I Cleanliness 7.58

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Race grade, round by round

gaps = not classified