Carlos Sainz: A curious proposal for a ‘real drivers’ world championship in Formula 1’

The Formula 1 stars know that if you want to be successful in the premier class, you need the right equipment. That is why it is already clear, even before the start of the season, that many will not even be in contention for the world championship title. After all, they are not in the right car to stand a chance of overall victory.

But Carlos Sainz is certain that this can be changed by introducing different rules. The Spaniard, who has already made 236 Grand Prix starts, explained in an interview with *Mundo Deportivo* what that might look like. The 31-year-old from Madrid revealed: “I’ve always imagined what it would be like if the teams and drivers competed separately – but that’ll probably never happen, will it?”

“I’ve always imagined a series with 20 races, where every driver competes twice in every car. So the driver is part of Formula 1, not part of a team. He’s, so to speak, a client hired by Formula 1 to drive the Grand Prix cars,” the four-time Grand Prix winner explained his idea.

Equal chance of winning the World Championship for all GP stars

“That way, I’d have the chance to drive two races for Williams, two for Mercedes and two for Ferrari. All drivers would have exactly the same chance of winning the World Championship,” added Sainz. “That would be the Drivers’ World Championship, and the points scored for each team would count towards the Constructors’ World Championship.”

“This way, the teams would be completely separated from the drivers, and we’d have a genuine Drivers’ World Championship and a genuine Constructors’ World Championship,” added the Williams driver, who has only managed to score points three times – finishing ninth on each occasion – in the seven Grands Prix so far. As a result, the former Ferrari driver currently sits 14th in the drivers’ standings.

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