Sainz, who left Ferrari for Williams in the off-season, held off a late charge from Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli to secure third behind race winner Max Verstappen and George Russell.
The Spaniard’s third place in Baku was also Williams’ first podium at the street circuit since Lance Stroll stunned the field in 2017.
“I’m just proud,” Sainz told Sky Sports.
“We’ve been quick all year. We’ve adapted very quickly to this team and we are on the right trajectory, but I had no results to prove it to anyone.
“This year has been extremely frustrating to not get results. Things out of my control, things in my control. Finally, a result on a day like today where I could show the pace is more what I needed.”
After qualifying second in a chaotic Saturday session, Sainz delivered a faultless 51-lap performance, keeping Antonelli at bay and showing the race pace he has insisted Williams possessed all season.
“We have good pace,” said Sainz.
“We struggle in quali, but in some races we can actually fight one Merc or one Ferrari. I know I’ve had the pace all year and if nothing happened to us, I could bring it home — and it’s exactly what happened.”
The 31-year-old described the podium as “one of my best races ever” and admitted it carried extra significance given the challenges of his first year with Williams.
“Honestly, I cannot describe how happy I am or how good this feels,” he said.
“It tastes even better than the first-ever podium that I did.
“We’ve been fighting hard all year and finally we just proved that when everything comes together, we can do some amazing things together.”
Team principal James Vowles hailed Sainz’s drive as “exceptional” and said the result reflected the effort of a team rebuilding from years at the back of the grid.
“This is one I’ll remember forever,” Vowles said.
“Carlos delivered a phenomenal race — an exceptional drive from start to finish, and a joy to watch.
“I believe in positive momentum, and this gives Carlos a real foundation to build on.”
For Sainz, the result also carried a personal edge, as he claimed his first podium of 2025 before Lewis Hamilton — the man who replaced him at Ferrari — could do the same.
But the Spaniard insisted his focus remains firmly on the project at Williams.
“I always believed in this project,” he said.
“This is my life project. If I manage to bring Williams back to being competitive and winning races, it’s everything that I care about, and I will put the next few years of my life, all my effort to doing that and committing to that.”
The result almost doubled his 2025 points tally to 31, lifting him to 12th in the drivers’ championship and helping Williams crack the 100-point mark for the first time since 2016 as they strengthened their grip on fifth in the constructors’ standings.
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