Azerbaijan GPCarlos Sainz breaks his curse in 2025: first podium with Williams and "a lesson in life"

Carlos Sainz was not holding a pleasant memory of 2025 and his debut with Williams… until today. Bad luck, multiple problems, and all the tough moments have paid off today at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with the signing of his first podium with the Grove team.

Qualified by Carlos himself as "the best podium of his life," it has not been easy to achieve. He had to keep his cool at the start next to a wolf like Liam Lawson, and he managed to hold his ground at the restart of the Safety Car against Max Verstappen.

"We have shown everyone the great step we have taken since last year"

From there, it was about resisting and maintaining a constant pace, which ultimately was key to being in the mix. His main rivals were right behind, the Mercedes, trapped behind Liam Lawson, but George Russell's strategy played in his favor. The Brit, who started on hard tires, extended his pit stop until the final stages of the race.

Sainz could not do that starting on medium tires, and he had to deal, from a distance, with the Mercedes driver to try to fight for second place. The train of Liam Lawson guaranteed him to keep the podium, and the Kiwi became his main ally. Faster drivers like Norris, Leclerc, or Tsunoda could not get past him.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli also could not pass him, losing valuable time with Lawson that would later benefit Carlos. The Madrid native had a pace very similar to the Italian, which allowed him to breathe easy in the final laps after being a victim of Russell's undercut, something he warned his team about on the radio.

Explosion of happiness

Going from second to third did not bother him at all, and he celebrated the podium with the enthusiasm that the moment required after a tough debut year: "I can't describe how happy I am. It's even better than my first podium".

"We have fought hard all year, and finally today we have proven that when we have the speed we have had all year and everything goes well, we can do incredible things together. We nailed the race, not a single mistake, and we beat cars that I didn't expect to beat yesterday", commented the Madrid native after the Grand Prix in Baku.

As Sainz rightly said, this is not the result of chance, but of hard work throughout the year, and going through hardships in the desert at different times when luck could smile on him, and then turned its back. "I am very proud of everyone at Williams for pushing in this difficult year".

Hard work pays off

"We have shown everyone the great step we have taken since last year. We are moving up, in the right direction" said Sainz, leaving a beautiful and inspiring reflection not only for racing but for life.

"We have had many incidents this year, a lot of bad luck, which has made it difficult to turn pace into results. Now I understand why: this first podium had to come this way. That's life. It brings you those bad moments to give you a very good one, and it's better than I expected".

"It's a whole lesson in life: keep believing in yourself, in your team, in your processes, in everything you do, because sooner or later, it will pay off" said an emotional Sainz before receiving the first trophy with the colors of the Williams team.

Fuente: DAZNFotos: Williams Media