Sainz Excited: Baku Podium with Williams, Better than First

Williams driver Carlos Sainz expressed that his third place in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was even more gratifying than his first podium in Formula 1. At 31 years old, Sainz has 28 podium finishes in 11 seasons in F1, including four victories as a Ferrari driver. His first podium came at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, when he was competing for McLaren. This year, Sainz joined Williams after being replaced at Ferrari by Lewis Hamilton. The Spanish driver described his first podium with his new team as an experience full of emotion.

Honestly, I can’t describe how happy I am, how good this feels. This is even better than my first podium.

Carlos Sainz

Sainz highlighted the team’s hard work throughout the year and the demonstration of their speed. “Today we did it, without errors, and we managed to beat many cars that I didn’t expect to overtake yesterday,” he added. The driver started from second position on the grid, taking advantage of a chaotic qualifying session at the Baku street circuit on Saturday. He maintained a solid performance throughout the 53 laps of the race, losing only one position to George Russell’s Mercedes, who employed a different strategy.

Sainz expressed pride in the effort of the entire Williams team, highlighting the significant progress compared to the previous year. “We are on the rise, we are going in the right direction,” he stated. “Sometimes life brings you bad times to give you a very good one, and this is much better than I expected. It’s a life lesson, to keep believing and trusting in yourself, in the team and in everything you do, because sooner or later it always pays off.” After Williams focused its efforts in 2026 at the start of the season, Sainz anticipates that the podium in Baku could be the highlight of his first year with the team. Sainz believes that Las Vegas could be another good opportunity to achieve an outstanding result. “I will fight for it if the opportunity arises, as was seen today,” he concluded.