Carlos Sainz shakes things up with a new way to pick the ‘true’ F1 champion
Carlos Sainz has shared a bold idea for Formula One that could finally settle the question of who the best driver really is. Since F1 became so popular, fans have always debated who stands out most among the drivers.
Sure, stars like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have proven they’re top tier, but the cars they drive also play a huge role in their success. For example, people often wonder how a world champion like Lando Norris would do driving an Aston Martin this year, compared to Lance Stroll in a McLaren.
Right now, it’s impossible to say for sure who the best driver is, and that debate will probably go on for a long time. But Sainz has an idea that could change everything. He proposes a new racing format that separates drivers from teams completely. This way, fans could discover the “true” champion.
In an interview with Spanish magazine Mundo Deportivo, he explained: “I’ve always thought of a category with 20 races where each driver races two times with every car. The driver wouldn’t belong to a team but would be an F1 customer hired to race the cars. I could do two races with Williams, two with Mercedes, two with Ferrari—so every driver has the same chance to win the World Championship.”
He added that this would be the drivers’ championship, while the points earned for each brand would count toward the constructors’ championship. “That would separate the brands from the drivers completely, giving us a true drivers’ championship and a real manufacturers’ championship.”
While this idea is unlikely to ever happen, it’s an exciting concept. Both championships would stay, but drivers would earn points racing different teams, and teams would earn points from whoever is driving their cars that weekend.
This system would probably help drivers currently with lower-ranked teams. Big names like Verstappen and Hamilton might not like the idea since they’d have to switch from teams like Red Bull or Ferrari to others like Audi. But Sainz admits it’s just a dream: “This will never happen, of course.”
In a surprising move for the 2025 season, Hamilton took Sainz’s seat at Ferrari, even though Sainz had a strong year before that. At first, the swap seemed odd. Hamilton finished higher in the standings, but Sainz earned two podiums last year while Hamilton had none—even though Sainz’s car wasn’t as good.
But in 2026, Hamilton has looked like his old self again. He’s currently second in the Drivers’ Championship and recently won the Barcelona Grand Prix, reclaiming the top spot on the podium.
When talking about Hamilton’s win, Sainz reminded everyone that it’s not just about a driver’s skill but also the team and changes in regulations. He told Marca, “If you’re with a car you don’t like for three years, or the car doesn’t adapt to you, you can seem one-dimensional. Then if you switch to a car that suits your style, you look amazing.”
He added, “It’s a much harder sport than people think. Lewis deserves credit for turning things around, and the rule changes helped him. If he were still driving last year’s car, we wouldn’t see this version of Hamilton.”