Sainz has a fighting spirit: “I don’t care about P9, I’m here for podiums”
- Bo Helmus
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
Written by Bo Helmus
For Spain’s home hero Carlos Sainz, the 2026 Formula One season isn’t going quite the way he’d like yet. He’s only finished in the points a couple of times, and is yet to get a better finish than ninth place.
Even though the Spaniard went home empty-handed from Monaco, he is still quite positive about the weekend: “I think in Monaco we had a very solid weekend, but unfortunately, we didn't manage to bring the points home after that incident eight, nine laps to go.”
Eyes on the prize
He isn’t too disappointed about this anymore: “It's a P9 or a P10, and I've realised that when I go to sleep on a Monday I don't care that much about the P9 or a P10 because in the end what I'm here for is for podiums, wins, top fives, and that's my ultimate target. So, if there's going to be any racing incidents that take away the P9, that day I'm going to be frustrated, but then I can get over it very quickly.”
Home race
What about his home race? Sainz isn’t too optimistic about his chances: “Barcelona, I think it's clear it's going to be a more frustrating weekend for us. I think Williams is known for having a bit of a weak track here in Barcelona.
“I think this year's car shouldn't be particularly good for here, but at the same time it's a great opportunity for us as a team to understand why and see where our weakness lies. So, I think we're going to put everything we have to understand that and to try and make progress. Having said that, I'll try and score points.”
Barcelona Shakedown
Williams missed the Barcelona Shakedown back in January. Sainz doesn’t feel like that would impact the team this weekend: “I know this place pretty well by now, many years coming to Barcelona, so I don't think I will miss doing the shakedown.”
“But maybe for the engineers, having a first look at how the energy will work through the lap and how to launch the lap, how to do the long runs, for sure we will be, say, half a step behind, because it's true that a lot has changed since January, even on the Mercedes power unit. So, we will see. I think not ideal, but it's not the end of the world.”
Predictions
The Williams-driver predicts some better results than last race: “I think we can [score points]. I think we need to do everything perfect, and they're going to be expensive because it's going to take a lot of effort to get them.”
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya isn’t a favourable track for the Williams’: “I think Canada, Miami and Monaco are tracks that suit our car a bit more than what Barcelona does. But we are improving every single weekend, and if we manage to improve another little bit here, then hopefully we can be in the hunt for points. But it will not be easy, but we will try.”
Racing in Madrid
Next year, the Spanish Grand Prix will be held in Madrid rather than Barcelona. The Spaniard has already had the chance to drive around the new track: “Honestly, I was positively surprised by it.
“I think especially they've done a really good job with sector two and the fact that they've managed to open up sector two to be more of a permanent-style track, with a lot of flowing corners and of course the big bank, the almost 180-degree flat-out, that I think it would be flat-out corner. So I think it's important for Formula 1, to have, for a Formula 1 track to have character.”
“And I think Madrid has managed to have something out of the ordinary, extraordinary, like that corner and that section of the track. Then, if it produces good racing or not, I think it's too early to say, but it has two pretty long straights and a very fast flowing section, so in theory it should produce overtaking.
“But we need to go racing and we need to analyse it. And then I think it's the kind of place and track where I think Madrid would be very happy to, if they can improve something in the future, they will change or improve towards the future, which is the philosophy of the city and the philosophy of the project.”
Comments