Carlos Sainz is widely regarded as one of the top drivers in F1. Looking at his current season, though, it is becoming increasingly difficult to see why.

This is his second season with Williams, and his recent races have gone from bad to worse: the crash with the race leader in Hungary, the arrogant comments afterwards, his home race — and then the awkward contact with none other than Fernando Alonso, the home legend.

It looks like Sainz has found himself in a hole — and he keeps digging.

But how has a driver who performed so strongly at Toro Rosso, Renault, McLaren and Ferrari ended up so far from the leading teams?

Reportedly, Mercedes rejected him, while he turned down a serious offer from Audi in favour of Williams. One year later, after a very difficult first season, he extended his Williams contract. The PR narrative is loyalty to the team.

The reality may be rather less romantic: there simply weren’t any valuable options.

And that is the real problem for Sainz.

According to Williams Team Principal James Vowles, there is no realistic expectation of a major performance step forward for at least the next 12 months. Williams has also suffered the biggest drop in performance compared with last season.

So for Sainz, the short-term future looks bleak.

For Williams, things can only get better.
For Carlos, that may not be enough. 🏎️

Last week, we saw something unprecedented: the FIA President openly stated that the governing body will support Fernando Alonso and his struggling team to remain in F1.

OK, so far, so good.

The only problem is that all the legal help has already been provided. The engine supplier received upgrade opportunities, Aston Martin was granted additional development budget, and everything should be fine, right?

Wrong.

You see, all teams and drivers are supposed to be equal — but according to the FIA President, some are apparently more equal than others.

If we follow that logic, the very same support should be offered to Cadillac, Williams, and whoever else finds themselves at the back after a series of wrong decisions.

And that is where things get uncomfortable.

When providing a level playing field turns into a corporate bailout, where does sporting fairness end and preferential treatment begin?

Full respect to Alonso. At 45, he is still an extraordinary driver and one of F1's biggest stars.

F1 will keep moving forward when Alonso eventually retires. What it cannot afford is favouring teams or handing out “get-out-of-jail-free cards” for poor team performance.

Remember the age-old expression: no matter what they say, it is all about the money.

Let’s roll back to Covid and the Australian GP.

The promoter, FIA and F1 were deliberately proceeding under the “business as usual” mantra, waiting for the local government to officially ban the mass event that was the GP.

Why wait?

Because in such a scenario, F1, the FIA and the promoter are not liable for failing to stage the race as contracted with TV stations around the world, fans, partners, etc.

Fast-forward to 2026 and the very complicated geopolitical situation surrounding the planned final two races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

F1, the FIA and the local promoters are once again proceeding under the “business as usual” mantra, although it is becoming increasingly difficult to see how these races can actually take place.

So, for the moment, the priority appears to be not whether the races will be staged, but who will be deemed legally responsible if they are not — and who will have to pick up the tab.

But what about the scenario floated earlier — substituting the races with Portimão and Imola?

It could work. In fact, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has confirmed that Imola is among the European options being considered if Qatar and Abu Dhabi cannot go ahead.

But there is also a rumour that F1, the FIA and the promoters may try to bypass their contractual obligations by asking all 11 teams to confirm in writing that holding an F1 race at those locations in early December would be too dangerous because of the low temperatures.

Why?

Because such a declaration could potentially carry the legal weight of force majeure, allowing contractual penalties to be avoided.

But why don't F1 and the FIA simply want to stage the races?

Because the economics have changed.

Local governments in Qatar and Abu Dhabi are paying huge sums for the global exposure that F1 brings. Bahrain, meanwhile, is apparently happy to have its race moved to Malaysia — but Qatar and Abu Dhabi may not be so keen on relocating their events.

That leaves F1 with a problem: either fund the races itself, find an alternative solution, or find a way out of its contractual obligations.

And then came yesterday's official statement from F1's supporting series, F2, about how its championship will conclude.

According to F2, the championship will now be decided at the upcoming Azerbaijan GP, with two qualifying sessions and two Feature Races. The official explanation is that Baku is the only weekend where the timetable allows the additional sessions.

But that creates an interesting question.

That format would not be necessary if the final two F2 rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi were about to go ahead as planned — because F2 is the official support series for F1 at those weekends.

And F2 itself says:

So we are left with a rather strange situation.

F2 either has 15 rounds in 2026 instead of the 14 originally published — or it has 13, with F1 potentially skipping its final two races.

And the clock is ticking.

We wait and see. 🏎️💰

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Tomorrow, best. 🏎️