F1 star Carlos Sainz makes shock phone call to BBC Radio 1

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F1 star makes shock phone call to BBC Radio 1

The F1 fans among the regular listeners were shocked on Thursday morning

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Thursday 25 September 2025 22:55

Williams F1 star Carlos Sainz stunned listeners to Greg James' BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show after he called in as a surprise to the regular schedule.

Those who tune into Greg's regular morning show will know the much-loved 'Thurs-waaaay!' segment where listeners leave voicenotes excitedly sharing their upcoming plans - big or small - followed by a big 'waaaaaay!' that gets played out live on air.

And for F1 fans tuning in on Thursday morning, they got a lovely surprise when Greg introduced the next person as 'Carlos', none other than the 31-year-old Williams driver – Carlos Sainz.

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Sainz's reason to be excited was of course his post-Baku celebrations, as he secured his first trip to the podium as a Williams driver at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Sadly though Sainz did not add 'waaaaaay!' after he shared his reason for being excited, but we will let him off on this occasion.

The Spaniard was in a jubilant mood as he talked all things F1, including his dream to become world champion with Williams.

Carlos Sainz spills the beans on Lewis Hamilton

Fellow DJ Charlie Hedges joined Greg for this segment, who innocently asked Sainz 'What Lewis [Hamilton] was like?'.

Most people would perhaps not have the kindest words to say about the person who took your old job from them, as Hamilton did for Sainz at Ferrari, but the Williams man had nothing but positive things to say.

"For me, he's honestly because he is my competitor, but if I wasn't in F1 he would be one of my idols.

"When I was 10-years-old, he arrived to Formula 1 and he became world champion in 2007 when I was 12-years-old, and that's when I started watching F1 when he was racing Fernando Alonso, [Felipe] Massa and everyone.

"He used to be one of my idols and one of the people that I looked up to but now he's one of my competitors!"

It was at this point that Greg shared that Radio 1 were being inundated with messages from fans who were shocked that Sainz was on the show.

The podium debutant went on to reveal that he was jetting off to Berlin for an event with the clothing brand 'Hackett' before enjoying a weekend at home prior to Singapore.

The segment was of course rounded off by a rendition of Sade's Smooth Operator, unfortunately not sung by Sainz this time - fans will have to hope he achieves another podium in Singapore next weekend to have a chance of hearing his own version once again.

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F1 Carlos Sainz