đ âOne can sip Cristal on the harbour or put a unicorn on a helmet â both guarantee youâll be talked about.â
Carlos Sainz, Williams, and a unicorn.
Not a slick sponsorâs logo, but a childâs sketch, plastered onto a racing helmet in Baku.
Hours later, champagne flowed and Williams had its first podium in eight years.
Coincidence? Magic? Or a lesson on how charm trumps commerce?
This is the story behind Sainzâs unicorn â and the gilded precedents that make it unforgettable.
The spark
It began not in a boardroom but with a little girl named Thea, who suggested her unicorn â Sparkles or perhaps Sprinkles â might adorn Sainzâs helmet.
He agreed.
And so, amidst Bakuâs Caspian opulence, a Williams driver carried the most unlikely talisman: a childâs fantasy beast, glittering in a world of carbon fibre and oligarch superyachts.
The moment
Then came Sunday: Sainz, silk-smooth under pressure, steered Williams to third placeâtheir first proper podium since 2017.
Champagne corks arced over the paddock. The unicorn, no longer whimsical, became legendary.
Precedents in high-octane couture
Daniil Kvyatâs fan-designed home-race helmet â patriotism by paintbrush.
Red Bullâs fan-created Silverstone livery â rebellion packaged in scarlet and chrome.
Charles Leclercâs bespoke helmets, drawn by friends, are as personal as a handwritten love note.
The significance
In a sport where sponsors elbow for millimetres, a unicorn did the unthinkable: it stole the spotlight.
Authentic, charming, and forever tied to a champagne-soaked podium â the kind of story Monaco terraces and Mayfair clubs will still tell when the decals have long since faded.
đ âIn a paddock where liveries are argued over by men in Italian loafers, a childâs sketch just stole the show.â