Head-to-head · season 2026

NicoHulkenbergAudi vs CarlosSainzWilliams

Carlos Sainz leads 7–6 in the race-grade duel, across the rounds both were rated in.

#15The Index · 7.62

P14DriverIndex Championship · 50 pts

P14Official · 11 pts

#12The Index · 8.08

P10DriverIndex Championship · 79 pts

P16Official · 7 pts

Round by round

the race grade decides each round · click a round for the full analysis

MEL – 7.3 SHA 7.7 9.0 SUZ 7.9 8.3 MIA – 8.5 CAN 7.4 9.1 MON 7.5 8.0 ESP – 8.8 AUT 8.1 – GBR 7.6 7.5 SPA 7.2 7.8 HUN 8.2 7.8 NED 7.9 6.4 ITA 7.6 9.2 MAD 7.6 6.4 BAK 8.8 7.6 MAL 7.9 8.2 SIN 9.6 8.4

The nine dimensions

season grades, mirrored — the longer bar wins the measure

8.18 OVD Overdelivery 7.49

7.56 PAC Race Pace 8.03

8.14 CON Consistency 8.05

6.90 ATK Attack & Defence 7.47

9.51 TYR Tyre Management 7.47

8.54 QUA Qualifying 9.39

6.88 STA Race Start 9.27

8.98 PIT Pit Stop Execution 7.41

8.75 CLN Cleanliness 7.71

Race grade, round by round

gaps = not classified

Nico Hulkenberg vs Carlos Sainz: who is driving better in 2026?

Nico Hulkenberg drives for Audi, Carlos Sainz for Williams, so the raw results are not comparable — everything on this page has car performance taken out of it. Carlos Sainz leads on The Index, 8.08 to 7.62 — P12 against P15, a gap of 0.47 of a grade point. Round by round, Carlos Sainz has out-driven the other in 7 of 13 races where both were graded. Nico Hulkenberg's clearest advantage is Tyre Management — 9.51 against 7.47. Carlos Sainz takes Race Start back the other way, 9.27 to 6.88. They are effectively inseparable on Consistency. In the DriverIndex Championship — the same season paid on the official points scale, but on driver merit — Carlos Sainz sits P10 on 79 points to Nico Hulkenberg's P14 on 50. Officially they stand P16 and P14.