Carlos Sainz has the most Azerbaijan Grand Prix starts of anyone still waiting for a win here, and the podium he did get arrived in the least likely car of the eight he has driven at Baku.
Eight starts, 49 points, two retirements and one third place. The Ferrari years were supposed to be the ones that delivered.
Four Ferrari years, two of them thrown away
He qualified fourth in 2022 and fifth in 2021, third in 2024, and came away with eight points from the three of them combined. Hydraulics ended 2022 and a retirement ended 2024, both from inside the top four on the grid. 2023 was the tidy one, fifth from fourth.
That is the frustrating shape of it. At a circuit where starting near the front is most of the battle, Ferrari kept putting him there and something kept going wrong behind him.
The early years were quietly better. Eighth on debut here in 2017 with Toro Rosso from fifteenth on the grid, fifth with Renault in 2018, seventh with McLaren in 2019. Three different teams, three points finishes, no fuss.
Carlos Sainz's Azerbaijan GP record year by year
Every Azerbaijan Grand Prix start, with the grid slot it came from and what it was worth.
| Season | Grid | Finish | Points | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 15 | P8 | 4 | Toro Rosso |
| 2018 | 9 | P5 | 10 | Renault |
| 2019 | 9 | P7 | 6 | McLaren |
| 2021 | 5 | P8 | 4 | Ferrari |
| 2022 | 4 | P20 | 0 | Ferrari |
| 2023 | 4 | P5 | 10 | Ferrari |
| 2024 | 3 | P18 | 0 | Ferrari |
| 2025 | 2 | P3 | 15 | Williams |
The Williams year that finally paid
2025 was his first Azerbaijan weekend away from Ferrari in five years and the best one he has had. Second on the grid for Williams, third at the flag, fifteen points and the podium that four years in red never produced.
He has now qualified inside the top five at Baku in each of his last five visits, which is the sort of consistency that eventually gets rewarded. He goes again on 26 September in the FW48, looking for the win that would make this record read very differently.
