Williams driver Carlos Sainz expressed that his third place in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was even more gratifying than the first podium of his career. Throughout his eleven seasons in Formula 1, the 31-year-old driver has accumulated 28 podium finishes, including four victories as a Ferrari driver. His first podium was at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, while competing for McLaren. Sainz joined Williams at the beginning of this season, after being replaced at Ferrari by Lewis Hamilton. The driver revealed that his first podium with his new team was full of emotion.
Sainz highlighted the team’s constant effort, demonstrating that, when everything aligns, they are capable of achieving great things. Sainz started from second on the grid, after a chaotic qualifying session on the Baku street circuit on Saturday. The driver maintained a solid performance during the 53 laps of the race, losing only one position to George Russell’s Mercedes, which proved to be faster thanks to an alternative strategy.Honestly, I can’t describe how happy I am, how good this feels. This is even better than my first podium.
Carlos Sainz
Sainz believes that the podium in Baku could be the high point of his debut season with Williams, as the team has focused on 2026. The driver anticipates that Las Vegas could be another opportunity to achieve a good result, although he acknowledges that it will be difficult.We are on the rise; we are going in the right direction. Unfortunately, we have had a lot of bad luck, many incidents, very difficult to convert all that rhythm into results. But now I understand why it all happened, because the first podium needed to arrive like this. It’s life, you know?
Carlos Sainz
