Brilliant Qualifying from Carlos Sainz, Q3 in Azerbaijan

Friday, 25 September 2026:

- Free Practice 3: P11, 1:45.605, 24 laps

- Qualifying: P9, 1:44.566, 25 laps

• Carlos Sainz set the ninth fastest time in the Qualifying session of the Azerbaijan GP, where he made the most of the last upgrades of the Williams FW48 to clinch his first Q3 appearance of the 2026 season.
• The Williams race driver was close to the Top 10 in Free Practice 3, where he finished eleventh. In Q1, he improved his time by five tenths (1:45.104) to be eleventh once again.
• The Spanish driver was perfect in Q2. His lap time, a 1:44.629, saw him climb up to ninth, making the cut by over a tenth and beating his teammate by almost four.
• Carlos repeated the same result in Q3, where he found an extra tenth (1:44.566) and avoided all the yellow tracks that appeared every time that a driver went off track.
• The Spaniard has a clear goal for tomorrow’s race: scoring points. With a compromised FW48, his tally has not increased since the Canadian GP.

QUOTES:

“Q3 for the first time this year makes me very happy, so thank you to everyone back at the factory for their efforts to bring us the new chassis and these upgrades. Each lap through the sessions felt good and we maximised everything we could in qualifying to achieve that P9 result. It’s a clear step forward in the right direction but the weekend is not over yet. Tomorrow, even though it will be tough, I will do everything I can to hold onto the Top 10 and bring home the best result possible!".

COMING UP:

Saturday, 26 September 2026:

- Race: 15:00 local time (13:00 CEST)