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Rebecca Donaldson: Age, Height, Relationship with Carlos Sainz

Harry Jack Howard Carter • 2026-10-15 • Reviewed by Hanna Berg

Follow any Formula 1 race weekend for a few hours and you will spot her in the background of paddock shots: Rebecca Donaldson, the Scottish model who has become one of the sport’s most recognised partners. Her name keeps turning up in gossip columns and Grand Prix coverage, yet the details of her own story — her age, her height, her career before the paddock — are surprisingly hard to pin down; this profile separates what is confirmed from what is still contested, with named sources on the claims that matter so you can check the record yourself.

Age: 27 (as of 2026) · Birthplace: Scotland · Occupation: Model and social media influencer · Relationship status: In a relationship with Carlos Sainz since summer 2023 · Height: Approx. 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) · Instagram followers: 877K

Quick snapshot

1Confirmed facts
2What’s unclear
3Timeline signal
4What’s next
  • Expect more paddock and lifestyle coverage through the 2026 season
  • A verified biography or agency profile would settle the contested stats

Seven data points in the public record, one pattern: the clearest facts about Donaldson are tied to her relationship and her work — the personal stats are the ones still shifting.

Field Details
Name Rebecca Donaldson
Age 27 as of 2026; some sources report other years
Birthplace Scotland
Height Approximately 5 ft 8 in (173 cm); reported range 5 ft 7 in–5 ft 9 in
Occupation Model and social media influencer
Relationship Girlfriend of Carlos Sainz since 2023
Instagram followers Roughly 877K on @rebeccadonaldson; verify on the platform (Tuko, entertainment news site)

How did Rebecca Donaldson meet Carlos Sainz?

According to profile coverage of the couple, Donaldson and Sainz met through mutual friends in the summer of 2023 (Cosmopolitan UK, lifestyle magazine). The early sightings that followed are documented unevenly, but the general shape is consistent: a reported sighting in Milan in June, a golf-course afternoon in Amsterdam in August, and by September — the Italian Grand Prix weekend — the pair registered as a couple in the paddock. Donaldson was introduced to that paddock world through Sainz, and the coverage followed from there.

  • June 2023 — reported Milan sighting, the first that circulated widely
  • August 2023 — Amsterdam golf course, another early public sighting
  • September 2023 — Italian Grand Prix weekend, the most-cited early appearance together

The pattern: the “how they met” story is really three stories — a private meeting, a public sighting, then a media narrative that filled in the gaps. The important distinction is that “met through mutual friends” is the account in coverage; the sightings are what the cameras actually captured.

The upshot

A handful of summer sightings did more to define Donaldson’s public profile than any interview — neither she nor Sainz has given a full on-the-record interview about the relationship in the coverage reviewed.

The implication: the public narrative was assembled from sightings and third-party accounts, not from statements by the couple themselves — a dynamic that still shapes every profile written about them.

Are Carlos Sainz and Rebecca Donaldson still together?

Yes — as of the most recent major profile, they are still together. Tatler’s March 2026 piece describes the driver as having been “dating his Scottish model girlfriend since Summer 2023” (Tatler, British society magazine). Supporting signals in the coverage include matching Instagram posts from a late-2023 Bahamas trip and a steady stream of paddock sightings through the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

In November 2023, Sainz also referred to a current girlfriend during an interview before the Las Vegas Grand Prix, though he did not name Donaldson in the quoted exchange (Cosmopolitan UK, lifestyle magazine).

Bottom line: For readers tracking the couple, every current profile update says the same thing: still together. For followers waiting on an engagement ring, there is no public evidence of one.

Has Carlos Sainz ever been married?

  • No public record of a marriage exists; coverage consistently describes Donaldson as his girlfriend, not his wife.
  • Sainz has never publicly discussed a past marriage in the coverage reviewed.

The plain reading: if there had been a high-profile marriage, the profiles would say “wife” somewhere. They don’t.

How many girlfriends did Carlos Sainz have?

  • No reliable count exists in any coverage reviewed.
  • Entertainment coverage treats Donaldson as his most public partner to date.

This is one of those questions the internet keeps asking and the record simply cannot answer — a reminder that drivers’ private lives are only as public as they choose to make them.

The takeaway: continuity is the story. The couple have now been together for more than two and a half years, and every profile update confirms the same status — dating, still together, no marriage, no engagement.

Where is Rebecca Donaldson from in Scotland?

Donaldson is from Scone, a village in Perth and Kinross, and attended Perth Academy, according to a profile in the South China Morning Post (international news outlet). The same profile says she reportedly began modelling at 17 after winning a competition — a detail that locates her career start squarely in Scotland, not in the F1 paddock.

What this means

In a sport where partners are often framed by nationality or glamour, Donaldson’s “scottish” bio is a quiet brand statement: before she was an F1 partner, she was a Scottish model with her own career.

That Scottish base shaped the career before the paddock ever did. She has been represented by Premier Model Management, with reported work for brands including Dior and Max Mara (ELLE Australia, fashion magazine). Coverage also describes her as an entrepreneur who founded an activewear brand (AS, Spanish sports daily), and press archives from 2022 show her on a red carpet with Scott Disick — an image that resurfaced constantly once the Sainz story broke.

The implication: her roots are the most stable fact in her biography — the town, the school and the accent are consistent across coverage, even when dates and heights are not.

How old is Rebecca Donaldson?

This is where the public record gets genuinely messy. Most online profiles list her birth date as 27 December 1998, which would make Donaldson 27 as of 2026. The South China Morning Post’s profile, however, gives her birth date as 24 July 1995 (South China Morning Post, international news outlet) — a roughly three-year gap that no amount of rounding can reconcile. An entertainment fact-checking roundup on Tuko notes that conflicting years, including 1994 and 1995, circulate widely, and that the birth year should be treated as not independently confirmed (Tuko, entertainment news site).

The catch

Two birth dates — 27 December 1998 and 24 July 1995 — keep circulating in otherwise credible outlets. Until Donaldson or an authorised profile settles the question, any published “age” is an interpretation of an unconfirmed record.

What is the age of Carlos Sainz?

  • Carlos Sainz was born on 1 September 1994, which makes him 31 as of 2026.
  • If Donaldson’s commonly cited 1998 birth date holds, the pair are roughly four years apart.

For context, Sainz’s birth date is well established in driver profiles; Donaldson’s is the one still being disputed.

The implication: when a basic stat such as a birth year is contested, it is a sign that Donaldson’s biography is being written by third parties — not by her or her representatives.

How tall is Rebecca Donaldson?

Height is another stat with a range rather than a single figure. Most summary pages list her at approximately 5 ft 8 in (173 cm); a secondary report from Yahoo Entertainment puts her closer to 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) (Yahoo Entertainment, media platform). Other coverage spans anywhere from 5 ft 7 in to 5 ft 9 in.

For context, both figures are plausible for the commercial and editorial modelling she is known for — and neither has ever been backed by an agency stat sheet in the coverage reviewed.

What to watch

When a verified agency profile or biography appears, expect the “official” height to replace today’s 5 ft 7 in–5 ft 9 in guesswork. Until then, treat the exact figure as approximate.

The trade-off: without an authoritative stat sheet, every website quoting a precise height is choosing one report over another — politely, but still choosing.

Timeline: from Milan sighting to paddock regular

Seven moments capture how a private relationship became a public story.

  • Late 1998 — Donaldson is born in Scotland; some later profiles list different years. (Tuko, entertainment news site)
  • 2022 — A red-carpet appearance with Scott Disick becomes one of the most-cited photos of her pre-paddock years. (AS, Spanish sports daily)
  • June 2023 — Publicly linked after a reported sighting in Milan. (Cosmopolitan UK, lifestyle magazine)
  • August 2023 — Spotted on a golf course in Amsterdam. (Tatler, British society magazine)
  • September 2023 — The Italian Grand Prix weekend becomes their most-cited early public appearance as a couple. (Cosmopolitan UK, lifestyle magazine)
  • November 2023 — Matching Instagram imagery suggests a Bahamas holiday; Sainz also refers to a current girlfriend in an interview (Cosmopolitan UK, lifestyle magazine).
  • 2024–2025 — Donaldson becomes a regular paddock presence, and her Instagram following grows season on season.
Bottom line: The arc is short but consistent — private in spring 2023, public by autumn 2023, stable ever since. The missing piece remains the “how they met” detail.

Why this matters: the timeline is the only place where the couple’s own pace is visible — and that pace says they prefer being seen together over explaining themselves. For anyone writing about the couple, it also means the older a profile is, the more likely its biographical numbers are outdated.

How solid is the public record?

Separating what is established from what is still floating is the fastest way to read any Donaldson profile — including this one.

Confirmed facts

  • From Scone in Perth and Kinross, Scotland; attended Perth Academy
  • In a relationship with Carlos Sainz since summer 2023
  • Represented by Premier Model Management (ELLE Australia, fashion magazine)
  • Entrepreneurial side: described as founder of an activewear brand (AS, Spanish sports daily)
  • Instagram handle cited as @rebeccadonaldson (Tuko, entertainment news site)
  • No public record of a marriage for either partner

What’s unclear

  • Exact birth date: 1998 vs 1995 depending on the outlet
  • Exact height: 5 ft 7 in to 5 ft 9 in depending on the source (Yahoo Entertainment, media platform)
  • How they actually met: “mutual friends” is the shared account, but no detail has been confirmed on the record
  • Net worth and modelling income: not publicly documented
  • Activewear brand details: name, scale and status are not independently verified
  • Engagement status: no evidence of an engagement, and no explicit statement ruling one out
  • Instagram follower counts: shift constantly and are best checked on the platform

The pattern: the more personal the stat, the less certain the record. The professional claims are sourced and stable; the biographical numbers are still being negotiated by the internet.

In their own words

Neither Donaldson nor Sainz has given a sit-down interview about the relationship, so the record is built from fragments: a magazine’s framing, a two-word Instagram bio, and the photos both choose to post. That absence of a third voice — a joint interview, a documentary, a tell-all — is itself a signal about how they want to be seen.

“The Atlassian Williams driver has been dating his Scottish model girlfriend since Summer 2023.”

— Tatler, March 2026 profile

“scottish.”

— Rebecca Donaldson’s Instagram bio

The implication: in the absence of interviews, audiences get fragments — and the fragments agree on the essentials.

Where this leaves the story

Rebecca Donaldson’s profile is growing faster than her documented biography. What’s confirmed is comfortable ground: Scottish roots, a modelling career, and a relationship with Carlos Sainz that has now lasted through several F1 seasons since the summer of 2023. What’s contested — birth year, height, the exact first meeting — is filled with guesswork in most profiles. For F1 fans tracking the grid’s most visible new partner, the choice is clear: enjoy the paddock coverage for what it is, or wait for Donaldson or an authorised profile to publish the definitive numbers before repeating any of them as fact.

Additional sources

crash.net

Frequently asked questions

What does Rebecca Donaldson do for a living?

She works as a model and social media influencer. She has been represented by Premier Model Management and has reportedly worked with brands including Dior and Max Mara (ELLE Australia, fashion magazine); her exact income is not public.

Does Rebecca Donaldson have any siblings?

No reliable public information about her siblings has appeared in the coverage reviewed. She keeps her family life largely out of the spotlight.

What is Rebecca Donaldson’s Instagram handle?

Coverage cites the handle @rebeccadonaldson. Follower counts shift over time, so the current figure is best checked on the platform itself.

How did Rebecca Donaldson become famous?

She was building a modelling career and an activewear brand before mid-2023, when reports linked her to Carlos Sainz and she became a fixture of F1 coverage.

Is Rebecca Donaldson a model?

Yes. She reportedly began modelling at 17 after winning a competition, and her portfolio includes reported work with brands such as Dior and Max Mara.

What team does Carlos Sainz race for?

Carlos Sainz drives for Atlassian Williams Racing in Formula 1, the team named in Tatler’s March 2026 profile of the couple.

Are Rebecca Donaldson and Carlos Sainz engaged?

There is no public evidence of an engagement; profiles describe Donaldson as his girlfriend, not his fiancée.

How often does Rebecca Donaldson attend F1 races?

She has been a regular presence at Grand Prix weekends since 2023 and is frequently photographed in the paddock during the season.



Harry Jack Howard Carter

About the author

Harry Jack Howard Carter

We publish daily fact-based reporting with continuous editorial review.