Carlos Sainz says that many people at Williams would have doubted that he could convert his start in the front row into a stage finish before his breakthrough performance in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Sainz started second in Baku and finished third behind Winner Max Verstappen and George Russell, who used an alternative strategy to walk long and overcut the Williams driver for second place. The Spaniard had to absorb for Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the second Mercedes deep in the second stint of the race, but a perfectly rated strategy ensured a place on the Rostrum.
Sainz was self -confident on Saturday evening that he could take a trophy home, but with both Mercedes drivers planned in the top five, both McLaren drivers in the top 10 and both Ferrari drivers in the top 12, he admitted that his vision would not have been shared by everyone in the team.
“Probably if you asked many of us yesterday, we didn’t believe that the stage was actually feasible with so many fast cars behind,” he said. “But I think we had a good pace this year, we just didn’t have many opportunities to show it.
“From the start I have always told the team that when a first big chance comes to fight for a stage – as long as we have everything under control and nothing goes wrong and we prove everyone what we do – and we get that stage, then I will be ok. It is exactly what happened today.
“We had our chance to start with P2. Today we had a very good opportunity to show our very good pace, and we managed to stay on stage. Only George managed to beat us with a very good pace, but it was a very well -performed race.”
Although he finally made way for Russell, Sainz proved that his qualifying pace was not a ranger. Simon Galloway/Getty images
The result was only the fourth stage of Williams in the last 10 years and the first stage since the Belgian Grand Prix from 2021, where no racing rounds were completed in what was a completely washed -off race. The last stage trophy of the team of a race that went the distance was taken by Lance Stroll during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2017.
While Sainz was on stage last November and the last of his four victories so far won in October in his last season with Ferrari-Zei the 31-year-old that his first in Williams Colors was the most meaningful of his career.
“100 percent this means even more just because of course I had set my bet on Williams a year ago and I said I am going to this team because I really believe in this project and I really believe this team is increasing,” he said. “I feel very comfortable in this working environment, also very comfortable with everyone around me, and I actually quickly went by car all year round.
“I think that everyone who has changed teams – which is not an easy task nowadays – I have been very competitive from the first race, very fast, but I had no results with me. I had no results to prove myself, the team and everyone who were about to get good things. But in the end they did that.
“I think life has often taught me that this sometimes happens – that you have a series of accident or bad performances, but then life suddenly gives you back, if you keep working hard, with something so very sweet.”
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