FrancoColapintoAlpine vs CarlosSainzWilliams
SAI leads the grade duel 9–4 — across the 13 rounds both were rated in, the car stripped out of the equation.
Franco Colapinto vs Carlos Sainz: who is driving better in 2026?
the verdict, from the numbersFranco Colapinto drives for Alpine, Carlos Sainz for Williams, so the raw results are not comparable — everything below has car performance taken out of it. Carlos Sainz leads on The Index, 8.51 to 6.59 — P9 against P22, a gap of 1.92 of a grade point. Round by round, Carlos Sainz has out-driven the other in 9 of 13 races where both were graded. Franco Colapinto's clearest advantage is Attack & Defence — 8.21 against 6.87. Carlos Sainz takes Qualifying back the other way, 9.32 to 6.75. 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 Franco Colapinto's P14 on 33. Officially they stand P15 and P12.