Carlos Sainz has joined Fernando Alonso in questioning how Formula 1\u2019s biggest teams can regularly introduce upgrades while teams such as Williams cannot.<\/p>\n
Eight races into this year\u2019s 22-race season, Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren have introduced the most significant upgrade packages.<\/p>\n
Carlos Sainz questions how top F1 teams fund constant upgrades<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n All three teams rang the changes at the Miami Grand Prix, before Ferrari made further changes to the SF-26 at the Barcelona GP. Red Bull and McLaren followed suit in Austria.<\/p>\n The trio has also brought other smaller circuit-specific updates to the tracks in between.<\/p>\n Double world champion Fernando Alonso told PlanetF1.com and other media in Austria that he was baffled<\/a>\u00a0how they could afford to do so in the cost cap era.<\/p>\n After all, he was told Aston Martin cannot upgrade the AMR26 as there is \u201cno money\u201d given it\u2019s going all-in with a B-spec car that could be on the track at the Dutch Grand Prix.<\/p>\n \u201cApparently, there is no money to bring upgrades, unlimited upgrades, like the other teams do,\u201d said the Spaniard.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s surprising to see the FIA page on Friday every race. Maybe they have the money machine in the minus one [floor] in the factory.\u201d<\/p>\n This year, the teams are operating within a budget cap of $215 million.<\/p>\n Sainz<\/a> says he also doesn\u2019t understand how the bigger teams are spending so freely.<\/p>\n F1 2026: The season\u2019s winners and losers<\/p>\n The results of the F1 2026 championship <\/a><\/p>\n The F1 2026 Drivers\u2019 and Constructors\u2019 Championship standings<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt is not only Williams,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you look at any other team, I think everyone is scratching their heads at how the top teams manage to do what they\u2019ve done this year.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you look at the last five races, no one is bringing more upgrades than the top teams, so this is still impressive what they\u2019re able to do.\u201d<\/p>\n But for Williams to return to the front of the Formula 1 grid, the Spaniard concedes it\u2019s not just about spending money, it\u2019s about investing it in the right things.<\/p>\n \u201cIt shows that it\u2019s not all money,\u201d he said. \u201cWhich at the same time is in a good way, because we know money is not the issue in Williams, and we have the budgets, and we have the investment from the board on so many things. The team has been investing a lot of money in all the facilities we have now.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of it is processes, efficiencies, work methods, and that\u2019s where it gets complicated, because that\u2019s where we need to get it right, and we need to analyse, and obviously also hire talent from other teams to help us understand in which areas we are still not strong enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams has scored 11 points this season to sit eighth in the constructors\u2019 championship, 10 points behind Haas and nine ahead of Audi.<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n