{"id":165041,"date":"2025-09-24T01:11:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T01:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/165041\/"},"modified":"2025-09-24T01:11:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T01:11:08","slug":"sainzs-unicorn-behind-williams-surprise-podium-in-baku","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/165041\/","title":{"rendered":"Sainz’s Unicorn Behind Williams\u2019 Surprise Podium in Baku"},"content":{"rendered":"

After going from the highly-regarded Scuderia to the underdog Grove-based team, Carlos Sainz proved his elite level once again on Sunday, winning a spot on the podium at the Azerbaijan<\/a> Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

Sainz finished third at Baku, capturing Williams’ first podium in years and vindicating his decision to believe in team principal James Vowles’ vision for the future. <\/p>\n

“I think life has taught me many times that this sometimes happens; that you have a run of misfortune or bad performances, but if you keep working hard then suddenly life gives you back something really sweet like this,” the driver said after the race. <\/p>\n

More news:\u00a0From Louis Vuitton to Tag Heuer: Formula 1 is Becoming the Sport of Luxury Brands<\/a><\/p>\n

Amidst all the hoopla and pomp surrounding the victory, it was the unicorn sticker on the Spanish driver’s helmet that drew people’s attention. <\/p>\n

The sticker originates from a Williams fan, who got her question answered by the drivers in a video on Instagram. The young girl, while holding up her toy unicorn, asked Sainz to name the toy, choosing between Sparkles or Sprinkles. <\/p>\n

She also asked if he would wear a unicorn sticker on his helmet for the rest of the season. Sainz refrained from picking a name, but he did agree to wear the sticker if she designed it. <\/p>\n

The Spanish driver secured the sticker for Sunday’s race and ended up finishing on the podium, a feat that Sainz could only have dreamed about early in the season. <\/p>\n

He has been thoroughly outclassed by his teammate Alex Albon on the season, but the former Ferrari talent has gotten progressively more comfortable. <\/p>\n

After capturing the podium trophy, Williams posted a video on Instagram recapping the memorable race weekend, where the sticker made its appearance on the silverware. <\/p>\n

“There’s one more thing that is actually quite special,” Vowles said in the video. “I’m pretty sure either Sparkles or Sprinkles had something to do with this as well at the same time. So, that’s staying, I assume, for a little while.”<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil the end of the year, for sure,” Sainz added. <\/p>\n

If Sainz continues to deliver stellar drives with the stick on his helmet, potentially, he could finally come out and pick a name for the unicorn, though it seems like Sparkles has already won the popular vote. <\/p>\n

For more F1 news, head on over to\u00a0Newsweek Sports.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After going from the highly-regarded Scuderia to the underdog Grove-based team, Carlos Sainz proved his elite level once…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":165042,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[3930,49,48,578,576,580,577,582,82],"class_list":["post-165041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-azerbaijan","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula-one","tag-formula1","tag-racing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}