1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 2. George Russell (Mercedes), 3. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by James Hinchcliffe)
Q: Carlos Sainz, a brilliant qualifying lap yesterday set you up for a podium finish today — your first for Williams. You said on the radio on the way in that it is the best moment of your career. Just tell us what this moment means to you.
Carlos SAINZ: Yeah. Honestly, I cannot describe how happy I am, how good this feels. This is even better than my 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 — we’ve had it all year — and everything comes together, we can do some amazing things together. And yeah, today we nailed the race. Not one mistake, and we managed to beat a lot of cars that yesterday I wasn’t expecting to beat.
Q: We talked a little bit earlier in the week about how you’ve had pace at a lot of the races in the last few — it’s just been a failure to convert for a various amount of reasons. How proud are you of yourself on track, and the team, of course, for their ability to convert from a strategy standpoint today?
CS: Yeah. I’m extremely proud of everyone at Williams for pushing through our very difficult year. I think we’ve proven to everyone the massive step that we took compared to last year. We are on the rise; we are in the right direction. Unfortunately, with me, we’ve had a lot of bad luck, a lot of incidents — very difficult to convert all that pace into results. But now I understand why it all happened, because the first podium needed to come like this. It’s just life, you know? Life just sometimes brings you those bad moments to give you a very nice one, and this stays much better than any other thing that I was expecting. So, just a life lesson, to keep believing, keep trusting yourself, your team around you, your procedures, everything that you’re doing — because sooner or later, it always pays off.
Q: Cool. We’ll go and join with your team. Congratulations.
CS: Thank you very much.
Q: P2 for George Russell today. You said before the race that a podium was a possibility, and you had incredible pace on those Hard tyres. We even heard you pre-empt a message from the pit wall to extend that stint. Was that the key today to get ahead of Carlos?
George RUSSELL: Yeah. I mean, firstly, congrats to Carlos and Williams. Amazing result for them. I think for us, really happy to be back on the podium. It’s been a bit of a rough weekend for me personally, but the car was great. Lewis came in P4 as well, so happy with that.
Q: You talked about a rough week for you personally — a bit under the weather. So how tough was it to sort of focus, and how are you feeling after 51 laps?
GR: Yeah, I was pretty glad when I saw the chequered flag, to be honest. I was fortunate — I felt much better today than I felt on Friday and Saturday. So yeah, looking forward to a bit of rest now. But as I said, just happy with the result. And for us as a team, trying to beat Ferrari in the Constructors’ was a good step towards that.
Q: Absolutely. Well, congratulations. Go get some rest. Max, 67th win of your career, second in a row. That looked like Max 2023 — as straightforward as it gets. Did it feel that easy from inside the car?
Max VERSTAPPEN: They’re all a bit different, but I think this weekend has been incredible for us. Of course, last weekend was already great. But yeah, for us to win here again is just fantastic. And I think also in the race, the car was working really well. On both of the compounds, we had clean air all the time, and you could then look after your tyres. And yeah, it was pretty straightforward. Of course, it’s not easy around here — very windy today, so the car is always moving around a lot. But yeah, of course, incredibly happy with this performance.
Q: After the conditions we saw yesterday and all the problems in qualifying — you mentioned the wind, similar conditions today. How surprised were you that there weren’t more incidents, that we didn’t have more Safety Cars or even a red flag? Is that the drivers just learning from yesterday, or was it maybe not as hard today?
MV: I think in the race, always, you have to be a little bit more careful, right? Also, with tyre management and stuff, you want to make the one-stop work. So I think everyone was a bit more cautious with that anyway. Plus, of course, the compounds that we’re running today — Medium and Hard — they weren’t really used that much up until today, and that all helped. And yeah, for sure I was happy that there were not too many Safety Cars.
Q: Max, two wins on the trot. This Red Bull car seems to have really taken a step forward the last few weeks. Are you confident that this sort of pace, this sort of relative competitiveness can continue all the way to the end of the season?
MV: Difficult to say at the moment, but for sure the last two race weekends have been amazing for us. Singapore — completely different challenge again with the high downforce. So we’ll see what we can do there.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Very well done, Max. A very dominant victory for you today. Just how sweet was the performance?
MV: I think overall, just a great weekend for us. I think for sure, you know, starting up front was key, especially in the beginning, just managing your tyres to go long. But, yeah, overall, very happy with how the race was going. I mean, I could go very long in that first stint. The car was doing pretty much what I wanted it to do. Just how much you commit, right, to push around here, which is not always easy with the layout of the track, the wind as well. It was quite tough today with that. But, yeah, we just stayed out until basically everyone pitted. And then there were only a few laps left on the medium, clearing a few backmarkers, which took a bit of time. But after that, just bringing it home. And for us, that’s another just great result. A bit unusual. This season has been really swinging left and right, but at least now two weekends in a row, it’s been going really well.
Q: You say it’s been swinging left and right. Was this the best the car has felt all season?
MV: I guess together with Monza. Yep. Monza has never really been a particularly strong track for us, so to do that, that was already a big plus. And I guess all in all for me here in Baku, it’s been alright, but never amazing — apart from maybe ’21, ’22, I guess. But the rest has always been a bit difficult. So, yeah, to have a weekend like this, it was very important.
Q: How much of a risk was it to start the race on the Hard tyre given that you hadn’t run on it up until that point?
MV: Well, not so much from knowing how good it would be. It’s more like the start or an untimely Safety Car. So as soon as we crossed, like, 20 laps into the race, I was a bit happier, but it was a bit of a risk. I think it’s a bit unusual, of course, when you’re on pole, to start on the hardest compound that is available. But we did it, and I think it was the right call. We said before the race, well, one way or another one strategy will work, and we’ll come out of the race happy with it. Luckily, we chose the right one.
Q: Now, Max, you’re only 69 points behind Oscar Piastri in the Drivers’ Championship. Given the recent upswing in competitiveness, does it give you a smidgen of hope that the title is within range again?
MV: I mean, I don’t rely on hope. But it’s seven rounds left – 69 points is a lot. So I personally don’t think about it. I just go race by race, what I have been doing basically the whole season — just trying to do the best we can, try to score the most points that we can. And then after Abu Dhabi, we’ll know.
Q: And given where the car is now, do you have a little bit more hope going to Singapore, a race where Red Bull’s never won?
MV: Well, I have never won. Red Bull has won, right? We’ll see. It’s completely different. High downforce. A lot of deg on the tyres, so we’ll see what happens. I really don’t know at the moment.
Q: Alright. Very well done today. Thank you very much, Max. George, let’s come to you. Great race by you. What was the key to the climb up to P2 today?
GR: I think it was just staying out of trouble, to be honest. I don’t think we had a spectacular weekend, to be honest. And, obviously, Carlos just did an amazing job, and Liam also did a great job yesterday qualifying ahead of us. But all of the cars who we ordinarily fight sort of made mistakes or underperformed, and we sort of picked up the pieces. So, obviously, really happy to finish P2 all things considered. But also, I think the cool temps helped us a little bit. So just good to capitalise on all of those things.
Gallery5BAKU, AZERBAIJAN – SEPTEMBER 21: Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrates on arrival in parc ferme during the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on September 21, 2025 in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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BAKU, AZERBAIJAN – SEPTEMBER 21: Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrates on arrival in parc ferme during the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on September 21, 2025 in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Q: Do you have a better race car or qualifying car at the moment?
GR: I think it’s very dependent circuit to circuit. Definitely, this weekend, the conditions and the circuit layout probably suited our car better than we’ll see in Singapore. But right now, the field is so compact and overtaking is pretty difficult. So it seems like anybody can do an amazing lap and get themselves up the order. And, to be honest, it’s pretty incredible seeing the likes of Carlos, Hülkenberg, Hadjar on the podium this season.
Q: You’ve been under the weather all weekend. Sounding a bit like Barry White. Just how tough was it physically for you?
GR: Well, fortunately, it was Baku. Even though it’s one of the toughest circuits, mentally and physically it’s maybe one of the easiest. So today I’m much better. Friday and Saturday, I was really rough. And, you know, had it been Singapore, as an example, I think I probably would have called it a day on Friday, to be honest, and probably wouldn’t have done the race. So, yeah, sort of fortunate timing. And I haven’t been ill for a couple of years, actually, so it just all sort of hit me at once these days, but I’m on the up now.
Q: Quick word on the Constructors’ Championship, please. Mercedes in P2, four points now ahead of Ferrari. How do you see this one playing out over the remaining seven races? Do you expect it to go to the wire, or do you think one of you will gain an advantage?
GR: Well, I think right now with the current form, there’s as much chance of Max finishing ahead of us as there is Ferrari, to be honest.
MV: Red Bull, no?
GR: Yeah, team Verstappen! But, yeah — sorry, I lost my train of thought there. It just swings so quickly. Ferrari were looking amazingly strong on Friday here, and they’ve always been great here. You know, Charles has been on pole four times here, and they could have easily been one-two on the grid. And with how difficult overtaking is, they probably would have finished one-two as well. But, obviously, they had a bad qualifying, and they came away with single-figure points, and we were the ones coming away with 30 points, so nobody knows.
Q: Very well done. Thank you for that. Carlos, if we could come to you. First podium for Williams — very well done. What was the key to this result, first of all?
Carlos SAINZ: The key was probably just nailing a perfect weekend from practice, quali, to race. It’s what I’ve been looking for since the beginning of the season — just to nail a perfect weekend. I think we had almost a perfect one in Jeddah when we scored maximum points, but then the rest of the season has been really up and down with a lot more downs than ups. Very unlucky in some cases. Job not well done in others — by me or by other things that were in our control. But I always said to the team from the beginning that whenever a first big opportunity of fighting for a podium comes, as long as we have everything under control and nothing goes wrong and we prove to everyone what we’re doing, and we get that podium, then I’ll be OK. And it’s exactly what ended up happening today. We had our chance starting from P2. Probably, if you asked many of us yesterday, we didn’t believe the podium was actually achievable with so many fast cars behind. But I think we’ve had good pace this year, we just didn’t have many opportunities to show it. Today we had a very good opportunity to show our very good pace, and we managed to stay on the podium. Only George managed to beat us with very good pace, but it was a very well executed race.
Q: Is that what makes this so special? You said earlier that this tastes sweeter than your first ever podium in Formula 1.
CS: Yeah, 100%. This one means even more just because of, obviously, a year ago when I put my bet on Williams, and I said I’m going to this team because I truly believe in this project, and I truly believe that this team is on the rise. I’m very comfortable in this working environment, also very comfortable with everyone around me. And I have actually been pretty fast all year with the car. I think out of everyone that’s changed teams — which is not an easy task nowadays — I’ve been very competitive from the first race, very quick, but I didn’t have results with me. I didn’t have results to prove to myself, the team, and everyone that some good things were about to come. But, in the end, they did. I think life has taught me many times that this sometimes happens — that you have a run of misfortune or bad performances, but then suddenly life gives you back if you keep working hard with something really sweet like this.
Q: Carlos, you’ve got your first podium for Williams before Lewis has got his first podium for Ferrari. Can we get your thoughts on that?
CS: What everyone else does is not my business, to be honest. What I care about is that the first opportunity that I had to score a podium with Williams, and the first opportunity Williams had to score a podium, we took it, we scored it, and there it is.
Q: Final one from me. What else is possible with this car in 2025?
CS: Not much more than this, to be honest. I think the podium is — unless something crazy happens — maybe our best chance. Probably Vegas will be our next best track to try and maybe put together a top five or a top six, which is what we sometimes can achieve when everything goes right. Apologies, it’s a tough ask. I’ll fight for it if it comes, like you’ve seen today. But the rest, for example in Qatar, I don’t think we will score points. That’s how much our performance swings. But then we will have the Austins, the Mexicos. We will be a pure midfield car where we can maybe get in the points and keep our championship going. So excited to see what happens in those races.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Jesus Balseiro – Diario AS) Question to Carlos. Third place is quite nice, but was it ever possible to be second today? Do you think you could have done anything different, obviously on strategy, to keep George behind?
CS: Yeah. Obviously, I was racing for second the whole race, but I think it was around the first 10 laps of the Hard tyre where I was expecting to be clearly quicker than George on a new Hard versus his old Hard that I said, “If now I can put my car in front of him before he boxes, we have a chance for P2.” But then they started telling me his lap times on those used Hards versus my new Hard, and I saw there was no chance. They were just simply too quick for us today. So congrats to him and Merc for that. Kimi was also coming quick behind, and I had to change my focus to getting the P3 rather than fighting for the P2.
Q: Carlos, when you saw Max with the Hard tyre at the start, did you think that was a good opportunity for you?
CS: No. I thought maybe I could have done the same, if I knew. But I knew we had measured during the whole weekend that the left-hand side of the grid was a lot less grip than the right-hand side. So even if I was on a step softer compound, I knew that even with a good start and the short run to Turn 1, with that left side being very dirty, it was probably not enough to get him at the start. I still got a decent start, but it was not enough to put him under pressure. And I think for the Hard tyres, he must have done a good start.
Q: (Aynur Mehdiyeva – Racebrief.com) My question is for Carlos. First of all, congratulations with your first podium with the Williams team in Baku. Did you follow some specific strategy during the race?
CS: No. No. I just knew — I think on long runs on Friday, I saw my lap times and I saw that I’m
actually very quick, very competitive. So if it’s not easy to overtake back there, they’re going to struggle to get to me because I’m not slow. That’s why yesterday, I said I was dreaming about the podium, but in reality, I was kind of believing that if we nailed everything, we could actually make it happen because our pace has genuinely been good all year in this kind of tracks. I’ve been quick. The car has been quick. And if we nail everything, I thought a top five was possible. And if we do everything perfect, maybe even the podium.
Q: (Rodrigo França – Car Magazine Brazil) Question to the three drivers, please. Next Grand Prix will be in Singapore. Is this the most difficult race of the F1 season? And if so, why?
MV: Depends on a lot of things. If the car is shocking to drive, yes, it’s really hard to keep it in a straight line. But if the car is nice to drive, then it’s more about just the physicality of it. But at the same time, if everything’s going well, then you can relax a bit more, and then naturally it’s less physical as well. So, I don’t know. Let’s wait and see. I mean, it’s for sure always hot and you’re sweating a lot, so you have to prepare for that. But I guess we’ve all done that — heat training and stuff — preparing for these kinds of races. Basically, just getting comfortable with the uncomfortable. I don’t mind it. It’s a cool track. Of course, I’ve never won there, but it’s a cool feeling to drive there, and I hope this year we’ll be a bit more competitive.
GR: Same.
CS: Yeah. I think Singapore is very tough physically, but I think driving-wise, the race we just had here in Baku is probably the toughest of the year given the wind, the walls. The speeds that we do here is, for me, tougher as a driver than Singapore. But Singapore is more physically demanding.
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