You might have spotted that Carlos Sainz sported a rather beautiful unicorn sticker on the back of his race helmet over the weekend in Baku.

But what’s the story? Who created it, why is Carlos carrying it, and was it the secret behind his podium success?

The unicorn was designed by Thea, a young super fan from the United Kingdom. She submitted her hugely important dilemma on the very first episode of 

 — the show where our duo turn into your Agony Aunts.

Thea asked Carbono whether her unicorn should be called Sparkles or Sprinkles – two very solid name choices, in our opinion.

She then floated the idea of whether they would put the unicorn on a helmet for an upcoming race. Whilst the name remains unchosen (Alex was team Sprinkles), Carlos came up with the deal.

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If Thea sent in a drawing of her unicorn, he’d wear it. A man of his word, Carlos is running with Sparkles or Sprinkles the Unicorn this weekend – potentially becoming the fastest unicorn of all time in the process.

Carlos Sainz's 2025 helmet with unicorn sticker

It’s safe to say the unicorn proved a lucky charm, with Carlos securing P2 in Qualifying before pushing on to a P3 finish on Grand Prix Sunday.

In doing so, Carlos – unicorn in tow – became the first Williams driver to stand on the rostrum in four years, and the first to do so in a full-length race since 2017.

The unicorn is certainly here to stay; in fact, a spare sticker even found its way onto the P3 trophy.

Carlos Sainz's unicorn sticker featured on his P3 Azerbaijan Grand Prix trophy

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Atlassian Williams

Carlos Sainz is an Atlassian Williams Racing driver, racing alongside Alex Albon for the 2025 season and beyond. He joins the team after 4 years at Scuderia Ferrari, where he stood on the podium on multiple occasions and secured four race wins.

Carlos always had motor racing in his blood, first stepping into a kart at the age of 10 and quickly progressed through the karting ladder. Along the way he earned various accolades, including victory at the prestigious 2009 KF3 Monaco Kart Cup, a championship-winning season in the 2008 CIK-FIA Asia-Pacific KF3, and a runner-up finish in the 2009 KF3 Spanish Championship.

Carlos stepped up to single seaters at 16 years old, debuting in Formula BMW Europe where he secured a win and four further podiums. The following season saw Carlos win his first championship, achieving 10 wins and 7 more podiums in Formula Renault 2.0 NEC. He continued his climb through the junior ranks, culminating in a dominant Formula Renault 3.5 season where he clinched the title in his rookie year.

Following this impressive performance, Carlos was called up to Formula 1 with Scuderia Toro Rosso for the 2015 season. He began a three-year stint with the team, consistently showcasing blistering one-lap pace and developing strong race craft. Reaching a high of fourth place at the 2017 Singapore Grand Prix, Carlos switched to the Renault Sport F1 Team for the final four races of the season.

In his season at Renault, Carlos again showed his skill in qualifying, starting in the top ten for the first eight races of the season, and scoring points in all but one of these races. He achieved a season-best finish of fifth in Azerbaijan, then moved to McLaren for 2019.

The following two seasons at McLaren were breakthrough years for Carlos. He achieved his first F1 podium finish by taking third at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, then going one better at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix where he finished second. He ended both the 2019 and 2020 seasons sixth in the drivers’ championship standings.

2022 saw him progress further, securing his maiden victory at the British Grand Prix, alongside eight other podiums. Continuing his run of form in the 2023 season, Carlos won the Singapore Grand Prix, with two more podiums at the Italian and US GPs.

In his strongest season yet, in 2024, Carlos won the Australian Grand Prix in impressive circumstances, having just returned to the cockpit from an appendectomy. His second win of the year came in Mexico where he put on a dominant display; qualifying on pole and finishing almost five seconds ahead of the runner-up. Carlos concluded the season fifth in the drivers’ championship, stepping on the podium a further seven times.

In July 2024, Carlos announced that he would be joining Atlassian Williams Racing, committing his future to the team.

Carlos Sainz

Azerbaijan 2025

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Find out the backstory behind the sticker – and the young mastermind behind the design

Why Carlos Had a Unicorn on His Helmet in Baku

Find out the backstory behind the sticker – and the young mastermind behind the design

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