Carlos Sainz's girlfriend Rebecca Donaldson reacts to the driver securing the podium in the F1 Azerbaijan GP

Williams driver Carlos Sainz secured his first podium with the Grove-based team at the 2025 Azerbaijan GP. The Spaniard started P2 after an enthralling qualifying session and was able to defend against Kimi Antonelli to secure P3. Sainz's girlfriend, Rebbeca Donaldson, reacted to the Williams driver's Instagram post about the Baku podium.

Carlos Sainz was among the few drivers to set an early lap time in Q3 before the rain hit the track. The Spaniard was on provisional pole and was only beaten by a heroic lap from Max Verstappen at the end of qualifying.

The Spaniard had a great start, maintained his position, and settled into P2. Sainz was able to keep Liam Lawson in P3 at bay, marginally increasing the gap every lap. However, George Russell, who started the race on hard tires, went long into the first stint, whereas Carlos Sainz pitted earlier as he started on medium.

The overcut strategy worked for Russell, as he jumped Sainz and finished the race in P2. The Williams driver was under threat from Kimi Antonelli in the latter stages of the race, but was able to defend and finished on the podium. After crossing the chequered flag, Sainz took to the team radio and celebrated in his iconic style by singing the song “Smooth Operator.”

Carlos Sainz moved to Williams ahead of the 2025 season as Lewis Hamilton replaced him at Ferrari. It was the Spaniard's first podium with the Grove-based team. Sainz took to Instagram and uploaded a post about the podium. The caption read,

“FIRST SMOOTH OPERATION WITH WILLIAMS!”

Sainz’s girlfriend, Rebecca Donaldson, took to the comment section of the post and responded with,

“♥️♥️♥️”

Image credits: Instagram/@carlossainz55

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Carlos Sainz’s celebrations after his first podium for Williams at the Azerbaijan GP

The Spaniard was ecstatic after finishing on the podium for Williams. The Grove-based team has had a difficult couple of years as James Vowles led the transition of the historic back to the front of the grid. It was Williams' first podium since George Russell finished P2 at Belgium in 2021.

As Carlos Sainz celebrated the podium, his radio message after finishing P3 at Baku was,

“Vamos! Best podium in my career guys. You cannot imagine how this tastes. Thank you so much. This is my first smooth operation in Williams… and not the last”

The Williams driver jumped out of the car in parc ferme, and ran towards the Williams crew and celebrated it with the team. Sainz’s former teammate Charles Leclerc was also spotted congratulating the Spaniard after the race.

Speaking with James Hinchcliffe after the race, Sainz said,

“Honestly, I cannot describe how happy I am or how good this feels. It tastes even better than the first-ever podium that I did. We’ve been fighting hard all year and, finally today, we just proved that when we have the speed. “

Carlos Sainz, who had only scored 16 points since the start of the season, scored 15 points in Baku, and jumped to P12 in the F1 standings.

Edited by Pranay Bhagi