F1 2025 recap: Carlos Sainz shines despite move to the midfield

Key Highlights

• The Jeddah race also kicked off a strong run for Sainz, as he picked up points in five out of six grands prix - showing off the progress that Williams had made over the winter break. Carlos Sainz out-qualified Williams team-mate Alex Albon for the first time in Saudi ArabiaCarlos Sainz out-qualified Williams team-mate Alex Albon for the first time in Saudi ArabiaAfter this, however, Sainz entered a rough patch in his season as a mechanical failure meant he missed the start in Austria and he failed to finish inside the points at the following five grands prix - except for sixth place in the Spa Sprint. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementResults were what the Spaniard needed in the second half of the season as the gap to his team-mate widened, and Sainz soon delivered.
• In Azerbaijan, he became the only Williams racer to step foot on an F1 podium this year – the first to do so since George Russell in the rain-affected 2021 Belgian GP, and before that it was Lance Stroll at Baku 2017. His first podium of the year came courtesy of a third-place finish in Baku, where Sainz qualified second and, despite succumbing to Russell, held off a charging Andrea Kimi Antonelli to take third at the flag.
• This was followed by another third-place finish in the Austin sprint and, to top it off, another third at the penultimate grand prix: Qatar. It wasn’t all good news, however, as he shared the blame for a race-ending crash with Antonelli in the US GP.
• There was also an incident with Liam Lawson in Mexico, which ultimately ended his race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez prematurely. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDespite these moments, Sainz concluded his first season at Williams with 64 championship points – just nine shy of the tally picked up by Albon.
• He also took the bragging rights as the only driver to add to Williams’ trophy cabinet this year, and outperformed Albon 14-9 in qualifying head-to-heads for grands prix. Sainz' form over the course of the 2025 season helped Williams to fifth, its best finish since 2017, and could have left some at Ferrari wondering why he was let go. Read Also:AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement Baku podium was a just reward for Carlos Sainz's tough Williams F1 campaign Carlos Sainz slams TV focus on “celebrities and girlfriends”, F1 responds To read more Motorsport. com articles visit our website.