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Charles Leclerc reacted in joy as his former teammate, Carlos Sainz, clinched his first podium of the season with Williams Racing in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. This was also the team's first podium since the 2021 F1 season.
Sainz moved to Williams this season after Ferrari replaced him with Lewis Hamilton. He, alongside Alex Albon, managed to bring the team to the top of the midfield in terms of competitiveness and overall pace, clinching the fifth position in the championship.
While Carlos Sainz hadn't scored any points since Canada, he qualified on the front row for the race in Baku with Max Verstappen in P1, and managed to keep within the podium places, finishing the race in P3, as the flying Mercedes of George Russell managed to get ahead of him.
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His former teammate, Charles Leclerc, who was stuck battling in the midfield for the race, reacted joyfully as Carlos Sainz finished within the top three.
"Is Carlos on the podium?" He asked on the team radio.
"Good job to him!" Leclerc reacted as the team replied positively.
The situation on the track was quite dire for Ferrari, however, as both their drivers missed out on capturing the front row during qualifying. Lewis Hamilton had only managed to qualify P12; meanwhile, Leclerc crashed in the final moments of Q3 and started the race in P10.
McLaren miss out on early championship win after tussle with Charles Leclerc
McLaren had the chance to clinch the Constructors' Championship at Baku if they had managed to outscore Ferrari by nine points. However, the chances reduced significantly after Oscar Piastri's crash in qualifying and his teammate, Lando Norris's P7 start.
Moreover, Piastri crashed out of the race on the opening lap, and Norris was the sole McLaren driver on the grid for the remaining race. The team kept him out till later in the race to overcut Charles Leclerc's Ferrari. However, his pitstop on the 37th lap was compromised, and Norris exited the pits behind the Ferrari.
Although Lando Norris did manage to get ahead of Charles Leclerc subsequently, he did not manage to create a gap big enough to outscore Ferrari by nine points and clinch the Constructors' Championship. He finished the race in P7, followed by Hamilton and Leclerc behind him.
Ferrari hasn't been the most competitive team this season, but they did manage to keep themselves in second place in the championship for a long time. However, with the strong performance that Mercedes showed today, they have taken the spot with a four-point lead.
