After a triumphant third-place finish at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz pronounced his first podium for Williams better than his first in Formula One.
Despite the turmoil surrounding him, Sainz maintained composure and drove flawlessly to secure his first podium since his last race with Ferrari in Abu Dhabi at the end of the previous season, following a sensational second-place finish in qualifying at the Baku Street Circuit.
It ended an unsatisfactory campaign with Williams. Prior to earning 15 points for this performance, the Spanish driver had only managed 16 points in 16 races.
George Russell finished second in the rain-soaked Belgian Grand Prix in 2021, which was Williams’ first podium finish from a full grand prix since Lance Stroll finished third in Azerbaijan eight years prior.
“Honestly, I cannot describe how happy I am, how good this feels,” said Sainz. “It tastes even better than my first podium that I did [third with McLaren in Brazil in 2019].
“We’ve been fighting hard all year, and finally proved today that when we have the speed – we’ve had it all year – and everything comes together, we can do some amazing things together. Today we nailed the race, not one mistake, and we managed to beat a lot of cars that yesterday I wasn’t expecting to beat.”
“Extremely proud of everyone at Williams for pushing throughout a very difficult year. We’ve proven to everyone the massive step we’ve taken compared to last year. We are on the rise, in the right direction,” Sainz said
“Unfortunately, with me, we’ve had a lot of bad luck, a lot of incidents, and it’s been very difficult to turn all that pace into results, but now I understand why it all happened because the first podium needed to come like this.cIt’s just life. Life sometimes brings you those bad moments to bring you a very nice one, and this tastes much better than anything I was expecting. It’s a life lesson, to keep believing, trusting yourself, your team around you, your procedures, because sooner or later, it always pays off,” he added.
Max Verstappen of Red Bull won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from pole position, while Oscar Piastri of McLaren wrecked on the first lap, cutting his advantage over teammate Lando Norris to only 25 points. With a record seven rounds left, McLaren had hoped to win its 10th Formula One manufacturers’ title and second consecutive one on Sunday. However, they will have to wait until October 5 in Singapore.