Carlos Sainz expanded on strategy en-route to F1 Azerbaijan GP podium where he thought second was possible and also starting on the hard compound was better choice.
After hosts of bad luck for Sainz since joining Williams, the Spaniard finally found some good luck in F1 Azerbaijan GP in Baku when it mattered. He put the car in second in qualifying and followed it up with a sublime drive to third, to secure his first podium with the new team.
He started well behind Max Verstappen and kept his nose ahead of Liam Lawson. In hindsight, he would have opted to start on the hard compound as well like the Dutchman. It probably would have increased his chances to finish second, which he lost to George Russell eventually.
The Brit used the hard compound to go long and bypass three cars in the process to second. But Sainz was pleased still. He finally got everything to click together to showcase his race winning credibility. It also vindicated his bid to join Williams after he was let go by Ferrari.
He played down the significance of securing a podium with Williams before Lewis Hamilton getting one with Ferrari. Team boss James Vowles was relieved to secure his first podium with the team, in praise of Sainz for his performance and the team play with Alexander Albon.
“Extraordinary, I’ve had the pleasure of having many podiums in my career, and this one will stay with me forever,” said Vowles to F1 TV. “It means a huge amount to me… from where the team was, on our journey to where we’re going. Carlos earned it today. This wasn’t luck, this was him driving his socks off all weekend. I’ve wanted him to have a great result like this since the beginning of the year.
“You could see it was on the cards, it just never came together for one reason or another. This suddenly builds your confidence and momentum and allows it you to step forward – that’s what I wanted for Carlos. I think he definitely needed it. We all needed it as a team, though. It just shows to the world that this is absolutely where we are and this is the journey we’re on together.
For Carlos, it’s fundamentally, I think, ratification for the decisions he took a year ago. This is what I love about this team, it’s a team in exactly that way. Before I knew it, Alex had literally jumped out of the car and ended up just behind me! He wants this team to be successful, and he was there to celebrate by our side,” summed up Vowles.
Race, result –
Sainz: “The key was probably just nailing a perfect weekend from practice, quali, to race. It’s what I’ve been looking for since the beginning of the season — just to nail a perfect weekend. I think we had almost a perfect one in Jeddah when we scored maximum points, but then the rest of the season has been really up and down with a lot more downs than ups. Very unlucky in some cases. Job not well done in others — by me or by other things that were in our control. But I always said to the team from the beginning that whenever a first big opportunity of fighting for a podium comes, as long as we have everything under control and nothing goes wrong and we prove to everyone what we’re doing, and we get that podium, then I’ll be OK.
“And it’s exactly what ended up happening today. We had our chance starting from P2. Probably, if you asked many of us yesterday, we didn’t believe the podium was actually achievable with so many fast cars behind. But I think we’ve had good pace this year, we just didn’t have many opportunities to show it. Today we had a very good opportunity to show our very good pace, and we managed to stay on the podium. Only George managed to beat us with very good pace, but it was a very well executed race.”
Why sweeter first podium with Williams –
Sainz: “Yeah, 100%. This one means even more just because of, obviously, a year ago when I put my bet on Williams, and I said I’m going to this team because I truly believe in this project, and I truly believe that this team is on the rise. I’m very comfortable in this working environment, also very comfortable with everyone around me. And I have actually been pretty fast all year with the car. I think out of everyone that’s changed teams — which is not an easy task nowadays — I’ve been very competitive from the first race, very quick, but I didn’t have results with me.
“I didn’t have results to prove to myself, the team, and everyone that some good things were about to come. But, in the end, they did. I think life has taught me many times that this sometimes happens — that you have a run of misfortune or bad performances, but then suddenly life gives you back if you keep working hard with something really sweet like this.”
Podium before Hamilton got with Ferrari –
Sainz: “What everyone else does is not my business, to be honest. What I care about is that the first opportunity that I had to score a podium with Williams, and the first opportunity Williams had to score a podium, we took it, we scored it, and there it is.”
Second possible, strategy –
Sainz: “Yeah. Obviously, I was racing for second the whole race, but I think it was around the first 10 laps of the Hard tyre where I was expecting to be clearly quicker than George on a new Hard versus his old Hard that I said, “If now I can put my car in front of him before he boxes, we have a chance for P2.” But then they started telling me his lap times on those used Hards versus my new Hard, and I saw there was no chance. They were just simply too quick for us today. So congrats to him and Merc for that. Kimi was also coming quick behind, and I had to change my focus to getting the P3 rather than fighting for the P2. And Max starting on hard, no, I thought maybe I could have done the same, if I knew.
“But I knew we had measured during the whole weekend that the left-hand side of the grid was a lot less grip than the right-hand side. So even if I was on a step softer compound, I knew that even with a good start and the short run to Turn 1, with that left side being very dirty, it was probably not enough to get him at the start. I still got a decent start, but it was not enough to put him under pressure. And I think for the Hard tyres, he must have done a good start. In terms of strategy, no. No. I just knew — I think on long runs on Friday, I saw my lap times and I saw that I’m actually very quick, very competitive.
“So if it’s not easy to overtake back there, they’re going to struggle to get to me because I’m not slow. That’s why yesterday, I said I was dreaming about the podium, but in reality, I was kind of believing that if we nailed everything, we could actually make it happen because our pace has genuinely been good all year in this kind of tracks. I’ve been quick. The car has been quick. And if we nail everything, I thought a top five was possible. And if we do everything perfect, maybe even the podium.”
Here’s Carlos Sainz after podium finish: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-azerbaijan-grand-prix-vamos-p3-sainz-celebrates-his-first-podium-with-williams.1843878870787539107
Here’s how F1 Azerbaijan GP panned out
