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\u2019s haul of 70 in the F1 standings<\/a>. <\/p>\n However, Williams had full faith in Sainz<\/a>, with insiders claiming that there was no \u201cfeeling of panic\u201d towards the struggles he was experiencing in his debut season with the Grove-based constructor.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Williams driver Carlos Sainz Jr\u2019s life outside of F1 from full name, girlfriend and height<\/a><\/p>\n Carlos Sainz\u2019s former colleagues at Ferrari were \u2018very proud\u2019 of him for his heroics in Baku<\/p>\n Sainz was forced to find greener pastures following Ferrari\u2019s<\/a> acquisition of Lewis Hamilton<\/a> for 2025, which was announced before the beginning of last season. <\/p>\n The 31-year-old left the team on good terms, revealing the Scuderia\u2019s sentiment towards him during his exit, as well as their joy for him in Baku, during an interview with BBC Radio 1<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI must say Ferrari was really happy for me, we had a really good goodbye, and a really good end to the year last year,\u201d Sainz told listeners. \u201cHonestly, I just felt like I left a lot of good friends and a lot of good people. <\/p>\n \u201cI 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. <\/p>\n \u201cNow that I\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the Ferrari team radio at the chequered flag, former teammate Charles Leclerc congratulated Sainz for his impressive result<\/a> after expressing his frustration with how his own race went with the Scuderia on the streets of Baku. <\/p>\n READ MORE: Best moments of Carlos Sainz\u2019s F1 career including first pole, podium, win, title and more<\/a><\/p>\n Carlos Sainz also revealed how much he looked up to Lewis Hamilton before he became a \u2018competitor\u2019<\/p>\n During the phone call interview with the radio show, the Spanish driver was also asked about his opinion on Hamilton, to which Sainz couldn\u2019t help but express his respect for the seven-time world champion. <\/p>\n \u201cFor me, honestly, he\u2019s my competitor, but if I wasn\u2019t in F1, he would be one of my idols,\u201d Sainz revealed. \u201cActually, I was 10 years old when he arrived to Formula One, and he became world champion in 2008, I was 12 years old. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd that\u2019s 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\u2019s one of my competitors, 10 years, 15 years later.\u201d<\/p>\n With Sainz\u2019s result at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix<\/a>, it means that he has beaten his Ferrari replacement to securing a podium in the 2025 season. <\/p>\n![\"Carlos](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2181413705-1024x683.jpg\")
Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Carlos](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2168362749-1024x683.jpg\")
Photo by Joe Portlock\/Getty Images<\/p>\n