The list of Grand Prix podium finishers in 2025 now includes Carlos Sainz, Jr. It still doesn’t include the driver who replaced him at Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton.
While Sainz was celebrating a third place for Williams that he called “even better” than his first in Formula 1, Hamilton was saying he “couldn’t really care less” about finishing eighth as his wait for a first top-three finish at Ferrari goes on.
“Definitely disappointed to come away with nothing," Hamilton told Sky Sports after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Hamilton could point to some progress after starting 12th on the grid but the overall mood was disappointment after Ferrari had led the way in Friday’s second practice session, only to fall back into the middle of the pack. Teammate Charles Leclerc started 10th after a crash in qualifying and ended up ninth.
“Honestly, I felt so good in the car and ultimately we went in the wrong direction with the car. But our ultimate pace in the race was just not on par with the guys up ahead of us,” Hamilton said. "It was so hard to overtake here today.”
Hamilton's time at Ferrari started with promise after a win in the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix in March but a double disqualification for him and Leclerc the following day pointed to setup issues which Ferrari has struggled to solve.
For Sainz, who left Ferrari for uncertainty at a Williams team which hadn't been on the podium since 2021, his third place was a vindication of his new team's long-term plan to compete at the front of the pack again.
Sainz said it also showed he was standing out among the drivers who had to adapt to new teams for 2025, a category which also includes Hamilton.
“I think out of everyone that’s changed teams, which is not an easy task nowadays, I’ve been very competitive from the first race, very quick, but I didn’t have results with me," he said.
"I didn’t have results to prove to myself, the team, and everyone that some good things were about to come. But, in the end, they did.”
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Third-placed Williams driver Carlos Sainz of Spain stands on the podium after the Azerbaijan Formula One Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain walks through the pit lane after the Azerbaijan Formula One Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A state appeals court is being asked to dismiss felony voter misconduct charges against an Alaska resident born in American Samoa, one of numerous cases that have drawn attention to the complex citizenship status of people born in the U.S. territory.
In arguments Thursday, attorneys for Tupe Smith plan to ask the Alaska Court of Appeals in Anchorage to reverse a lower court's decision that let stand the indictment brought against her. Her supporters say she made an innocent mistake that does not merit charges, but the state contends Smith falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship.
Prosecutors also have brought charges against 10 other people from American Samoa in the small Alaska community of Whittier, including Smith’s husband and her mother-in-law. American Samoa is the only U.S. territory where residents are not automatically granted citizenship by being born on American soil and instead are considered U.S. nationals. Paths to citizenship exist, such as naturalization, though that process can be expensive and cumbersome.
American Samoans can serve in the military, obtain U.S. passports and vote in elections in American Samoa, but they cannot hold public office in the U.S. or participate in most U.S. elections.
About 25 people gathered on a snowy street outside the courthouse before Thursday's hearing to support Smith. One woman, Fran Seager of Palmer, held a sign that said, “Support our Samoans. They are US nationals.”
Smith's husband, Michael Pese, thanked the American Samoa community in the Anchorage area. “If it wasn’t for you guys, I wouldn’t be strong enough to face this head on,” he said.
State Sen. Forrest Dunbar, a Democrat who attended the rally, said the Alaska Department of Law has limited resources.
“We should be going after people who are genuine criminals, who are violent criminals, or at least have the intent to deceive,” he said. “I do not think it is a good use of our limited state resources to go after these hardworking, taxpaying Alaskans who are not criminals.”
Smith was arrested after winning election to a regional school board in 2023. She said she relied on erroneous information from local election officials when she identified herself as a U.S. citizen on voter registration forms.
In a court filing in 2024, one of her previous attorneys said that when Smith answered questions from the Alaska state trooper who arrested her, she said she was aware that she could not vote in presidential elections but was “unaware of any other restrictions on her ability to vote.”
Smith said she marks herself as a U.S. national on paperwork. But when there was no such option on voter registration forms, she was told by city representatives that it was appropriate to mark U.S. citizen, according to the filing.
Smith “exercised what she believed was her right to vote in a local election. She did so without any intent to mislead or deceive anyone,” her current attorneys said in a filing in September. “Her belief that U.S. nationals may vote in local elections, which was supported by advice from City of Whittier election officials, was simply mistaken.”
The state has said Smith falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship. Prosecutors pointed to the language on the voter application forms she filled out in 2020 and 2022, which explicitly said that if the applicant was not at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen, “do not complete this form, as you are not eligible to vote.”
The counts Smith was indicted on “did not have anything to do with her belief in her ability to vote in certain elections; rather they concerned the straightforward question of whether or not Smith intentionally and falsely swore she was a United States citizen,” Kayla Doyle, an assistant attorney general, said in court filings last year.
One of Smith's attorneys, Neil Weare, co-founder of the Washington-based Right to Democracy Project, said by email last week that if the appeals court lets stand the indictment, Alaska will be “the only state to our knowledge with such a low bar for felony voter fraud.”
Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska.
Michael Pese and his wife, Tupe Smith, stand outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter fraud case brought against her by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Michael Pese, left, his wife, Tupe Smith, and their son Maximus pose for a photo outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter fraud case brought against her by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
FILE - Tupe Smith poses for a photo outside the school in Whittier, Alaska, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)
