Lando Norris’ World Championship victory brought great joy not only to McLaren and his fans, but also to Carlos Sainz. The Spanish driver, who shared the garage with Norris at McLaren during the 2019–2020 seasons, has always maintained a sincere and solid friendship with the new world champion. It was no surprise to see Carlos Sainz among the very first drivers to run over and embrace Norris after the race, celebrating together as the Briton secured the most important achievement of his career.
During the post-race interviews in the mixed zone, journalists in Abu Dhabi asked the former Ferrari driver for his thoughts on Lando Norris’ title win, which arrived at the end of an extraordinary three-way fight against Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri. Carlos Sainz responded openly: “Honestly, I am very happy for him. I think he is a great Formula 1 driver,” Sainz said, “and I believe he is incredibly fast. He has his own particular way of approaching life, and even though he has been heavily criticised in recent years for who he is, now he is world champion. Everyone else can keep dreaming of becoming a Formula 1 world champion, while he goes his own way and does things his own way. So I am extremely happy for him because he must have felt a lot of pressure in the last few weekends, and he managed to pull it off.”
The verdict on his first year with Williams
Carlos Sainz also spoke about his first season with Williams—a year that began with significant challenges but ended with an impressive rise in performance, including two podium finishes. The Spaniard reflected positively on the journey: “I think it has been a season to be proud of,” he said. “Many people, when I moved to Williams at the end of last year, doubted this decision. There were doubts about my future and about where I was heading after this season. Now it is clear to everyone that I have become part of a project that wants to return to winning. I got back on the podium earlier than expected—earlier than people thought and even earlier than I expected myself.”
Carlos Sainz continued by outlining his ambitions for the future: “Now the next goal is to win again, and I think I am in the right place at the right time to do that. The only thing I tell the team is to keep pushing, to give everything, because I see the potential. But in this sport, progress in one year doesn’t guarantee progress the following year.”
With Lando Norris achieving the greatest milestone of his career and Carlos Sainz completing a promising first year with Williams, both former teammates now look ahead with renewed confidence as Formula 1 prepares for another gripping season.
For now, though, the spotlight belongs to Lando Norris. And no one is happier about that than the man who knows exactly how sweet this moment tastes.
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