GeorgeRussellMercedes vs CarlosSainzWilliams
SAI leads the grade duel 8–5 — across the 13 rounds both were rated in, the car stripped out of the equation.
George Russell vs Carlos Sainz: who is driving better in 2026?
the verdict, from the numbersGeorge Russell drives for Mercedes, 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 7.60 — P9 against P13, a gap of 0.91 of a grade point. Round by round, Carlos Sainz has out-driven the other in 8 of 13 races where both were graded. George Russell's clearest advantage is Cleanliness — 9.65 against 7.58. Carlos Sainz takes Race Start back the other way, 9.04 to 6.86. They are effectively inseparable on Pit Stop Execution. 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 George Russell's P15 on 28. Officially they stand P15 and P3.