Carlos Sainz celebrates first Williams podium as Charles Leclerc praises former teammate
Former Ferrari man Carlos Sainz delivered a breakthrough performance at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, securing an impressive third-place finish for Williams. This marks the Spaniard’s first podium since departing the Maranello team and represents a significant milestone in his transition to Grove.
A challenging start for Sainz at Williams
The 30-year-old Spaniard had experienced a difficult beginning with Williams, scoring just 16 points prior to Baku, while teammate Alex Albon had already amassed 70 points. Despite the slow start, the team has maintained confidence in Sainz’s abilities, believing his experience and talent would eventually translate into strong results.
Baku proved to be the perfect opportunity for Sainz to showcase his skill. He delivered an exceptional qualifying performance, lining up second on the grid behind Max Verstappen. His Q3 lap was the fastest of any driver before Verstappen snatched pole with a final blistering effort. Multiple drivers struggled with grip and crashed, highlighting the difficulty of the street circuit, but Sainz managed to extract the maximum from the Williams FW47.
Capitalising on front-row potential
Alex Albon congratulated Sainz immediately after qualifying, recognising his strong performance that put Williams on the front row for the first time in years. On race day, Sainz converted his strong starting position into a podium finish, despite losing ground to George Russell and fending off late pressure from Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli. He held onto third place to secure a well-earned result for Williams.
Williams team principal James Vowles suggested that improvements to tyre temperature management in Baku played a key role in unlocking Sainz’s pace, addressing one of the challenges that had hindered his early results this season.
Williams’ first top-three finish since 2017
Sainz’s podium is Williams’ first in the Azerbaijan GP since Lance Stroll’s third-place finish in 2017. Remarkably, the Spaniard collected almost as many points in a single weekend in Baku as he had accumulated all season before the race. The achievement also came before his Ferrari replacement, Lewis Hamilton, managed to reach the podium with Maranello, highlighting the Spaniard’s strong start with his new team.
Charles Leclerc, Sainz’s former Ferrari teammate, reacted over the Ferrari team radio when he learned about Carlos Sainz’s result. He confirmed with race engineer Bryan Bozzi that Carlos Sainz had indeed finished on the podium and offered a brief, positive remark, praising his former teammate with a “good job to him.”
Sainz hails Baku as career-defining podium
Following the race, Carlos Sainz described the Azerbaijan GP podium as the “best podium” of his career, emphasizing the smooth operation and progress Williams demonstrated in 2025. He acknowledged the milestone as a boost for both his confidence and the team’s morale, especially with the upcoming 2026 Formula 1 regulations on the horizon.
He celebrated over the radio, expressing excitement and optimism, indicating that this result would not be an isolated success for him or Williams. The team has been actively preparing for the 2026 F1 regulations and aims to leverage Mercedes power units, widely expected to be the most competitive engines on the grid, to gain an advantage over rivals.
Despite the success, Carlos Sainz also highlighted the challenges ahead, particularly regarding the development of Mercedes engines and refining software performance to maximise competitiveness. Nevertheless, the Azerbaijan podium underscored both Carlos Sainz’s talent and Williams’ progress from backmarkers to serious midfield contenders in the 2025 Formula 1 season.
Leave a Reply