Jacques Villeneuve spots the only positive for Carlos Sainz after his Azerbaijan Grand Prix crash

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Carlos Sainz went from thinking he had earned Ferrari a double podium finish in Baku to ending up in the wall with Sergio Perez in a matter of moments.

Ferrari and McLaren had equally fast cars during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and Sergio Perez’s Red Bull was on a very similar level.

However, Oscar Piastri came out on top after a fantastic move on Charles Leclerc and the clean air he had meant his tyres held on until the end of the race while the Monegasque driver fell away in the final few laps.

That opened up an opportunity for Perez and he nearly squeezed past Leclerc, although his compromised exit from turn one allowed Carlos Sainz through after he expertly managed his tyres.

What happened next has caused plenty of controversy with Sainz and Perez both believing the other way to blame for their crash.

The stewards decided it was a racing incident meaning neither driver would carry a penalty into the next race in Singapore.

Reflecting on the race for Sky Sports F1, former world champion Jacques Villeneuve believed there was an unexpected positive for Sainz in Baku.

Sainz is entering his final few races with Ferrari before joining Williams in 2025 and his future team had their best weekend of the season.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Williams Racing from team principal to Mercedes relationship

James Vowles’s outfit were on par with Aston Martin and will be hoping that after overtaking Alpine in the Constructors’ Championship, they can make a late charge to challenge Haas and RB.

Jacques Villeneuve thinks Carlos Sainz will be happy with Williams’s pace during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Asked how he felt seeing his old team scoring points in Baku, Villeneuve said: “It’s fantastic!

“It’s a team that’s on the way up, they’re building, they’re working hard at it, making tough decisions with drivers as well.

“Sainz will be happy to see that today and they put the two drivers on different strategies and both worked because they finished the opposite of qualifying but both strategies worked and that’s amazing!”

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz’s life outside F1 from full name, girlfriend and height

Franco Colapinto held off Lewis Hamilton and benefitted from Sainz’s crash to finish 8^th and score the first points of his Formula 1 career.

Alex Albon was fantastic throughout the race, running long in his first stint and holding up several drivers on his way to his best result of the season.

Sergio Perez vs Carlos Sainz crash at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix analysed

It’s a sign of how good the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was that a crash between two drivers fighting to finish on the podium in the final few laps isn’t necessarily the biggest talking point of the race.

Piastri gave his verdict on Sainz and Perez’s clash after winning the race and escaping the chaos behind him.

Jolyon Palmer has blamed one driver involved in the collision in Baku although both Sainz and Perez should have known better than to potentially end their races when there were still two laps left to fight for the best position possible.

Sainz won’t be thinking about his next steps yet with Ferrari having a race-winning car right now and he’ll want nothing more than to stand on the top step of the podium one more time before that becomes a pipe dream next year.

The Constructors’ Championship isn’t even out of the equation yet after McLaren finally took the lead over Red Bull, in part thanks to Sainz and Perez’s crash.