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Two drivers who will be hoping to fight at the front of the grid next season are Spaniards Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz.
Carlos Sainz was one of the standout drivers during the second half of the 2025 Formula 1 season, securing two brilliant podiums for Williams and surging into the top 10 of the drivers’ championship.
Ted Kravitz’s early worries about Sainz quickly disappeared, and a brilliant final race in Abu Dhabi saw his fellow countryman, Fernando Alonso, finish right behind him in the standings.
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Aston Martin were way off the pace in 2025, while Williams have made it clear for some time that the upcoming regulation changes in 2026 have been their number one priority.
Even the appointment of Adrian Newey at Aston Martin as technical chief and team principal is no guarantee of success despite his incredible track record.
Gary Anderson has now explained that an ‘invisible’ issue that fans rarely consider could stop both Sainz and Alonso from fighting for wins next year, regardless of their individual performances.
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Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso told ‘invisible’ budget cap issue could ruin 2026 F1 chances
Anderson was speaking about the upcoming rule changes on The Race F1 Tech Show and said: “I think it’s gone overboard, really. I think it will take us a few years to get back to the competitive level we had in 2025, with all the teams closing in on each other.
“And at some races, the oddball result appeared, which is what we wanted. We want everybody to have a chance.
“But it won’t happen that the teams at the back will overcome the teams at the front, because just the manpower, money, budget, spend, knowledge, etc.
“For the teams at the front, it’s much too much. I hope we get a team getting into that top floor, because it’d be great to see Aston Martin, who have spent a huge amount of money on it.
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“And probably for Alonso’s last year, it’d be great to see Williams, again, Carlos Sainz, I think, deserves that shot of winning a race here and there.
“And there are others as well, but at the end of the day, I don’t think it’ll happen regularly, because the big teams just have the money and manpower to cope with a new set of regulations better than the old teams.
“Yes, budget caps may stabilise that a little bit. But, to me, the budget cap’s been a little bit invisible, other than the fact that we’ve seen some of the bigger teams not just throw as many new parts on the car as before, but they still do bring new parts.
“But sometimes, they just have to repair a few bits and pieces here and there just to survive and stay within the budget cap.”
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Williams have already made one 2026 ‘sacrifice’ that proves Gary Anderson’s point
The warning Anderson has sent F1’s midfield teams might have already come into play at Williams.
James Vowles’ team were famously late for pre-season testing before he arrived in 2019, and he’s made it clear that not only has the next era of Formula 1 been his priority for some time, but that Williams won’t be caught on the back foot again.
Vowles has already admitted Williams will sacrifice some performance when it comes to their 2026 car to make sure they’re ready in time for the private test in Barcelona at the end of January.
Teams with more resources won’t be making the same consideration, as they will have more personnel on hand to make sure they can push all of their developments to the limit.
Aston Martin have the best facilities in the sport at their newly refurbished factory in Silverstone.
But whether they have the manpower and the knowledge to utilise those tools fully is yet to be seen.
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