Carlos Sainz predicts British GP to be 2026’s ‘most entertaining’ race for all the ‘wrong reasons’

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Carlos Sainz has predicted Sunday’s British Grand Prix to be the “most entertaining” race of the current campaign… But for all of the “wrong reasons”.

Energy management has seemingly gone under the radar on recent race weekends, largely due to the nature of the circuits that the F1 circus has found themselves at over the last month or so.

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The term was one of the big buzzwords at the start of the current regulations’ life cycle, and has now been rehashed upon the grid’s arrival at Silverstone for this weekend’s British Grand Prix.

Along with the majority of the grid, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton raised concerns over energy starvation at Silverstone during their Thursday afternoon media duties.

The 3.66-mile-long circuit demands drivers to be at full throttle for 70% of the lap, and with few hard braking zones, energy management may prove to be the deciding factor regarding which driver will claim the top step of the podium after Sunday’s Grand Prix.

• READ MORE: Ralf Schumacher has heard that Carlos Sainz’s dad is ‘asking around’ about Williams exit

Carlos Sainz predicts the British Grand Prix to be a ‘yo-yo race’

Following the conclusion of Sprint qualifying at the British Grand Prix, Williams’ Carlos Sainz gave his thoughts on how the shorter format shootout went for him and the Grove-based outfit, as well as issuing a bold prediction for Sunday’s race.

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The Spaniard will start from Saturday’s Sprint in P15, occupying the same row as Williams teammate Alex Albon, who was unable to get within four tenths of Sainz on his final flying lap of the day.

“A small step… perhaps a little smaller than we’d like. We fitted a new front wing which seems to be working well, but I think it’s only helped us to overtake the two Haas cars in qualifying,” he told journalists in the media pen, via SoyMotor.

The Haas duo of Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon fell out of contention in SQ1 and have severely struggled for consistent pace after their fairly impressive start to the 2026 campaign.

“We managed to go from being behind them to ahead of them thanks to it; I think it’s quite a good improvement, but unfortunately, we’re still a long way off the top 10,” he added. “That’s the way it is; we’ll keep giving it our all, we’ll keep working hard.”

• READ MORE: British Grand Prix 2026: How to watch, F1 race and Sprint times, and Silverstone weather forecast

Despite being far from where he wants his team to be, there is still much for Sainz to be encouraged by: “Today’s lap was probably one of the best of the season, all things considered, so at least I’ll take that with me and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”

However, he’s expecting a frustrating Grand Prix, for both himself and his fellow rivals, finishing with, “Probably one of the most entertaining tracks, in my opinion, for the wrong reasons, because we’re very dependent on energy and it’ll be a bit like a yo-yo race.”