Carlos had not expected much from the 2025 season.

After all, Williams was… Williams.

He knew the jokes. He’d laughed at a few himself over the years. And yet, when he signed that contract, something in him had felt right ... a quiet promise of growth, of challenge, of starting something new that belonged only to him.

But podiums?
No.
Not this year.

He’d told the media he was “realistic.”
He’d told himself he was “patient.”

What he didn’t tell anyone was how hard it was not to compare new beginnings with old endings ... Ferrari’s heartbreaks still lived under his skin like fresh bruises. This season was supposed to be a breath, a reset, a fresh page.