Carlos Sainz has shared how his former colleagues at Ferrari reacted to his third-place finish at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which secured a maiden podium for the Spaniard at Williams.
Sainz put on a dazzling performance on the streets of Baku, withstanding the pressure from behind to take Williams’ first podium since the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix.
The result has come during a relatively difficult campaign for the Spaniard, who had scored just 16 points for Williams in comparison to teammate Alex Albon’s haul of 70 in the F1 standings.
However, Williams had full faith in Sainz, with insiders claiming that there was no “feeling of panic” towards the struggles he was experiencing in his debut season with the Grove-based constructor.
READ MORE: Williams driver Carlos Sainz Jr’s life outside of F1 from full name, girlfriend and height
Carlos Sainz’s former colleagues at Ferrari were ‘very proud’ of him for his heroics in Baku
Sainz was forced to find greener pastures following Ferrari’s acquisition of Lewis Hamilton for 2025, which was announced before the beginning of last season.
The 31-year-old left the team on good terms, revealing the Scuderia’s sentiment towards him during his exit, as well as their joy for him in Baku, during an interview with BBC Radio 1.
“I must say Ferrari was really happy for me, we had a really good goodbye, and a really good end to the year last year,” Sainz told listeners. “Honestly, I just felt like I left a lot of good friends and a lot of good people.
“I think it was just the circumstances of Lewis being a seven-time world champion, wanting to finish his career in Ferrari, and I had to leave, and in that case, this is where I found Williams.
“Now that I’ve scored my first podium at Williams, all of the people from Ferrari, and everyone was congratulating me, everyone seemed to be very, very proud and happy.”
Over the Ferrari team radio at the chequered flag, former teammate Charles Leclerc congratulated Sainz for his impressive result after expressing his frustration with how his own race went with the Scuderia on the streets of Baku.
READ MORE: Best moments of Carlos Sainz’s F1 career including first pole, podium, win, title and more
Carlos Sainz also revealed how much he looked up to Lewis Hamilton before he became a ‘competitor’
During the phone call interview with the radio show, the Spanish driver was also asked about his opinion on Hamilton, to which Sainz couldn’t help but express his respect for the seven-time world champion.
“For me, honestly, he’s my competitor, but if I wasn’t in F1, he would be one of my idols,” Sainz revealed. “Actually, I was 10 years old when he arrived to Formula One, and he became world champion in 2008, I was 12 years old.
“And that’s when I started watching Formula 1, when he was racing Fernando Alonso, and [Felipe] Massa and everyone. He used to be one of my idols, and one of the people that I look up to, but now he’s one of my competitors, 10 years, 15 years later.”
With Sainz’s result at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, it means that he has beaten his Ferrari replacement to securing a podium in the 2025 season.
After 17 appearances with the famous red team, Hamilton now holds a Ferrari record for the highest number of appearances without a maiden podium.