Damon Hill and Sergio Perez react to Carlos Sainz’s first Williams podium at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

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Williams Racing got to celebrate their first podium finish in four years thanks to Carlos Sainz at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Although Sunday’s race wasn’t the most eventful Grand Prix of the season, that’s exactly how Williams would have wanted it to play out.

Max Verstappen topped a record-breaking qualifying in Baku, with six red flags nearly doubling the length of the session.

But he was joined on the front row of the grid by Carlos Sainz, who briefly looked like he was going to be on pole position due to Oscar Piastri’s Q3 crash.

With Liam Lawson acting as a buffer behind him during the opening stint of the race, Sainz was able to open up a healthy gap at the beginning of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

However, a well-thought-out split strategy put Sainz in an awkward position, as he knew he would have to either give up fighting George Russell or Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

He let the former Williams driver undercut him and made sure the Italian rookie never got within DRS range as he took the chequered flag.

Russell was impressed with Sainz after the race as they shared a podium, and the Spanish driver earned plenty of praise for his best performance so far as a Williams driver.

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Damon Hill makes ‘nicely executed’ Carlos Sainz comment after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Former Williams world champion Damon Hill was one of the many people to react to Sainz’s achievement.

He posted on Instagram after the race, and commented on a reel of the team celebrating: “About time he had a bit of good luck! Nicely executed as we’d expect.”

Another former Williams driver, Franco Colapinto, was also quick to congratulate the 31-year-old.

He posted a comment under another Instagram post, and said: “So well deserved guys, very happy for you team :).”

It was a fitting message from the Argentinian, who scored his first points as a Formula 1 driver with Williams in Baku last year.

However, Colapinto is now fighting for his Alpine future, having failed to score a point since being promoted into a race seat with the French team.

Under another post on Instagram, Sainz commented: “FIRST SMOOTH OPERATION WITH WILLIAMS!” and Sergio Perez, who will return to the grid next year with Cadillac, applauded the Spanish driver.

It highlights what a popular figure Sainz is in the paddock, with many patiently waiting for him to achieve some success with Williams after a difficult start to the campaign.

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Carlos Sainz lauds ‘amazing feeling’ after Azerbaijan Grand Prix podium finish

Sainz moved up to 12th in the drivers’ championship with his podium finish, nearly doubling his points tally for the 2025 season.

He’s still some way off catching Williams teammate Alex Albon, who had a weekend to forget after a crash in Q1, but has helped the team cement fifth in the constructors’ standings.

Reflecting on the weekend in his official post-race interview, Sainz explained: “Finishing P3 today in Baku and being on the podium is an amazing feeling! I think it’s one of my best races ever!

“We’ve been working so hard and gone through some really big ups and downs, but this makes it all worth it, and we need to feel proud as a team.

“I’m sure this is just a taste of what’s to come for us at Williams, and we need to keep working in this direction. Today we had the pace, and we delivered when it mattered, not making any mistakes and scoring a magnificent podium on pure merit.

“Thank you to the entire team, here and back at home, for your relentless effort and support! And also, to all our Williams fans out there! I can’t wait for more to come! Vamos!”