Head-to-head · season 2026

GeorgeRussellMercedes vs CarlosSainzWilliams

Carlos Sainz leads 8–6 in the race-grade duel, across the rounds both were rated in.

#11The Index · 8.23

P12DriverIndex Championship · 75 pts

P2Official · 204 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 7.8 7.3 SHA 8.8 9.0 SUZ 7.5 8.3 MIA 7.4 8.5 CAN – 9.1 MON 7.2 8.0 ESP 8.1 8.8 AUT 8.3 – GBR 7.8 7.5 SPA – 7.8 HUN 7.7 7.8 NED 8.3 6.4 ITA 8.3 9.2 MAD 8.4 6.4 BAK 9.9 7.6 MAL 9.1 8.2 SIN 6.9 8.4

The nine dimensions

season grades, mirrored — the longer bar wins the measure

7.27 OVD Overdelivery 7.49

8.45 PAC Race Pace 8.03

8.09 CON Consistency 8.05

8.10 ATK Attack & Defence 7.47

7.68 TYR Tyre Management 7.47

7.63 QUA Qualifying 9.39

7.56 STA Race Start 9.27

7.91 PIT Pit Stop Execution 7.41

9.52 CLN Cleanliness 7.71

Race grade, round by round

gaps = not classified

George Russell vs Carlos Sainz: who is driving better in 2026?

George Russell drives for Mercedes, Carlos Sainz for Williams, so the raw results are not comparable — everything on this page has car performance taken out of it. George Russell leads on The Index, 8.23 to 8.08 — P11 against P12, a gap of 0.14 of a grade point. Round by round, Carlos Sainz has out-driven the other in 8 of 14 races where both were graded. George Russell's clearest advantage is Cleanliness — 9.52 against 7.71. Carlos Sainz takes Qualifying back the other way, 9.39 to 7.63. 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 George Russell's P12 on 75. Officially they stand P16 and P2.