BAKU, Azerbaijan – Carlos Sainz dreams of a dream podium for Williams after securing a surprising front-row start for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Sainz took advantage of one of the most chaotic qualifying sessions of modern times to place second, with Max Verstappen denying him pole position at the last moment.
The one that would have been the first pole position for Williams since the 2014 Austrian Grand Prix.
“I will try to get on the podium,” Sainz said about his hopes for Sunday. “I think I will give my best to give Williams a first podium. If it’s possible, great. And if not, we’ll see.”
Carlos SainzSainz and Williams executed the session perfectly. The Spanish driver crossed the line for his first timed lap of Q3 at the perfect moment to capitalize on the drama unfolding around him and as a light drizzle fell.Carlos Sainz tiene cuatro victorias en su carrera: tres desde la pole y una desde la segunda posición en la parrilla.His name topped the list when Charles Leclerc’s accident caused red flags. Then he held provisional pole when the championship leader, Oscar Piastri, crashed after the session restarted, leading to another agonizing wait under red flags.
It turned out that there was time for a burst of late laps, but Sainz was able to improve his original time, only for Verstappen to deny him the pole by 0.4 seconds. Sainz was surprised to still be so high up once the dust settled.
“Very happy,” Sainz said after the session. “Honestly, we nailed qualifying today. Always being on the right tire at the right time and completing some very strong laps.”
“Obviously, the moment a top-class car was going to complete that lap, we were always going to be four or five tenths away, as always, but it was only one of them, which was Max, I wasn’t surprised. And, for the rest, we managed to beat them. And yes, we were in P2, which is great news.”
