Sainz, on the podium with Williams before Hamilton with Ferrari: “First opportunity and there it is”
Carlos Sainz has wiped away the bitterness of his first season with Williams by achieving his first podium with the team in Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, his replacement at Ferrari, seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, is still yet to make his debut on the podium.
17 of the 24 races of the season have already taken place, and nine drivers have reached the podium in 2024 with such a competitive grid. It is surprising that Carlos Sainz is one of them, but not Lewis Hamilton.
Oscar Piastri leads this classification with 14 podiums, followed by Lando Norris with 13 and Max Verstappen with eight. Behind them are George Russell with seven and Charles Leclerc with five. Then, Kimi Antonelli, Isaac Hadjar, Nico Hülkenberg, and the aforementioned Carlos Sainz with one. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton can barely boast of three fourth-place finishes.
“Las Vegas will probably be our next best circuit”
Carlos Sainz seizes the first opportunity
The truth is that Carlos Sainz is having a rather complicated first season with Williams. However, the podium in Baku leaves such a pleasant feeling that the Spaniard feels capable of leaving all the problems behind.
“Yes, 100%,” says the Madrid native. “This [podium] means even more because a year ago I bet on Williams and said I was coming because I believed in this project and I think this team is on the rise. I feel very comfortable in this work environment, also very comfortable with everyone around me.”
“In fact, I have been quite fast all year with the car”, he adds next. “I think that of all those who have changed teams — which is not an easy task nowadays — I have been very competitive since the first race, very fast, but the results have not accompanied me.”
Williams has been very fast on the fast circuits throughout the season, although it has not always taken advantage due to its problems with tire temperature in qualifying. However, as soon as Sainz achieved a good starting position, the result came.
“The key was probably to have a perfect weekend from practice and qualifying to the race. We had one almost perfect in Jeddah, when we scored the maximum points, but then the rest of the season has had many ups and downs,” admits Sainz.
“Probably, if you had asked many of us yesterday, we wouldn’t have believed that the podium was really achievable with so many fast cars behind. But we have had good pace this year, we just didn’t have many opportunities to show it. This time we had a very good opportunity to demonstrate our very good pace and we managed to stay on the podium. It was a very well-executed race,” expands the 31-year-old veteran driver.
The comparison with Hamilton
With the podium this Sunday in Baku, Carlos Sainz becomes the second driver in history to reach the podium with Williams, McLaren, and Ferrari. Something that only Alain Prost achieved before.
And, inevitably, comparisons have arisen with Lewis Hamilton, who prompted his departure from Ferrari and has yet to reach the podium.
“Honestly, what others do is not my business,” Sainz responded to this fact. “What matters to me is that the first opportunity I had to achieve a podium with Williams, and the first opportunity Williams had to achieve a podium, we seized it, we got it, and there it is.”
Now there are seven more races left and some fast circuits. Is it possible to repeat? Carlos Sainz believes it is unlikely that he will achieve “much more than this. I think the podium is — unless something crazy happens — maybe our best opportunity. Probably, [Las] Vegas will be our next best circuit to try to maybe reach the top 5 or top 6, which is what we can sometimes achieve when everything goes well,” concludes the Madrid native.
Fotos: Williams Racing
