Villeneuve: “Sainz has improved every team he has been in”
As the first pre-season testing sessions approach, the line-up of drivers for the upcoming championship is now well known. Among the few changes is Isack Hadjar, who after his debut this year will move directly to Red Bull, taking the seat of Yuki Tsunoda, who has been demoted to test driver. The decision to promote the young Frenchman was essentially the only option, especially after the team decided not to bring Carlos Sainz to Milton Keynes in 2025.
The relationship with Verstappen
The promotion of Sainz would have increased his rivalry with Max Verstappen, which began early in their F1 careers at Toro Rosso. “The atmosphere between the two at Toro Rosso was quite toxic,” Helmut Marko had noted. “Given the team setup at the time, I didn’t see a way to keep him with us, so Carlos moved to Renault, then McLaren, and eventually Ferrari. Carlos Sainz was almost at the same level as Max… almost. But when we had to choose between Max and Carlos, it was clear what we had to do.”
These statements, made at the start of this year, were not shared by the current Williams driver: “We had a rivalry in our first year in Formula 1 at Toro Rosso, but it was a relatively healthy rivalry based on how we were used to racing, and now we get along very well. If that’s the reason, I don’t understand why they don’t want me alongside Max, because I think we would be a very strong pairing in Formula 1.”
Carlos Sainz’s impact on teams
Jacques Villeneuve, the last world champion in Williams history, has a different view. For the Canadian, Sainz has always been able to provide a boost to his team, including Red Bull, just as he has in every team he has joined, including Williams. Notably, the Grove team finished fifth in the Constructors’ Championship last year, with Sainz scoring two podiums. “He probably didn’t enjoy moving from a team like Ferrari to one that wasn’t at the top last year,” Villeneuve explained on the High Performance Podcast, “but seeing how the season went, he’s probably very happy. After all, that’s what he has done everywhere he has been. When he was Max’s teammate at Toro Rosso, he did pretty well. There was nothing to be shy or embarrassed about. He arrived very prepared, very focused, and with a different kind of discipline than many others. In every team he has been in, he has improved the team every time. In the first half of the season, he had some difficulty with pace compared to his teammate, until he improved the car. He made both drivers faster, but his positive effect was greater on himself than on his teammate every time.”
Additionally, Jacques Villeneuve believes Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz share certain traits: “Most drivers get out of the car, look at the data, and then find the answers, but they don’t ask the real questions. So the key is to ask the questions, and often you see them going in the completely wrong direction, but that’s the modern way of racing. Max is very old-school in this regard, and I think Carlos is too. He uses data a lot, but he truly understands what is happening to the car while he drives.” – the former Formula 1 driver concluded.
As the 2026 technical regulations approach, this rare ability to “feel” the car beyond the computer screen may become Carlos Sainz’s greatest asset. While Red Bull looks toward youth with Hadjar, Williams continues to reap the rewards of a driver who seemingly turns every garage he enters into a more competitive environment.
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