Carlos Sainz has pushed back against Lewis Hamilton’s upbeat assessment of Silverstone’s character under Formula 1’s 2026 engine regulations, arguing that the iconic circuit has lost some of its appeal due to energy deployment limitations.
Hamilton, who qualified on pole for the Sprint race at Silverstone on Friday evening, initially voiced concerns earlier in the week about how the new power units would behave around the high-speed sections of the track. However, after his qualifying run, he told reporters that Silverstone was “still phenomenal” to drive, noting that “the engine drop off is nowhere near what we anticipated.” The Ferrari-powered driver added that the circuit “still feels great” despite pre-weekend simulations suggesting otherwise.
Sainz’s contrasting experience
Sainz, driving a Williams car equipped with a Mercedes engine, did not share Hamilton’s optimism. He described Silverstone as “probably the most difficult one up until now for this concept of engine” and said the simulator experience was “pretty shocking.” The Spaniard emphasised that the current power unit concept has diminished the driving experience at what is widely regarded as one of F1’s greatest tracks.
“A great racetrack, like this being a bit, not spoiled, but downgraded because of the way you do an engine, is not what F1 should be about,” Sainz said. He explained that drivers quickly run out of energy and power in high-speed sections, and because the combination of very fast corners prevents battery harvesting, cars are left with significantly reduced horsepower. “You’re obviously a lot slower into the high speed and you don’t have as much power and as much momentum through it, so it’s quite a bit down on last year,” he added.
Yo-yo racing expected
Sainz predicted that the energy constraints would lead to “yo-yo racing” over the weekend, with drivers strategically deploying and recovering energy. “Probably one of the most entertaining tracks, my opinion, for the wrong reasons, because we are very energy starved, and we will be playing with the, ‘I spend here, but then you pass me back’,” he said. Despite the challenges, he acknowledged the “amazing” crowd at Silverstone.
Changes to the engine regulations are scheduled for 2027, with a shift toward a 60:40 split between combustion and electrical power to reduce reliance on batteries. Sainz believes these adjustments will improve the situation but doubts they will fully unlock the track’s potential. “It will improve it. It’s not what we would want still, because it’s not the full lap with all the power that an F1 car should have, but the power will make you arrive quicker into these corners and cut later, so the feeling of the car should be better,” he said.
