Max Verstappen admits he didn’t expect to be in contention for a podium finish at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix and praised his and Red Bull’s “incredible” turnaround to battle through from the pit lane.
Red Bull retired both cars in Q1 on Saturday for the first time in 19 years, opting to take a new power unit overnight and change the suspension settings of Verstappen’s car, necessitating a pit lane start. The defending champion made early progress on the hard tire before a puncture put him back at the back, but he fought through in thrilling fashion to finish third and continue his run of podium finishes.
“The race was quite full and there was a lot of action,” said Verstappen. “I had to overtake a number of cars coming out of the pit lane, and I think our pace was quite strong during all the stints. Sometimes it’s a bit difficult to know completely with the traffic and everything, but to be on the podium from the pit lane, I didn’t expect that at all – even with a flat tire at the beginning of the race; that’s why we had to box again.”
“An incredible result for us. Very happy with it and also very proud of everyone within the team. Yesterday was very tough for us, but we never give up. We always try to improve and try to find more lap times. Fortunately, we found that again today.”
Red Bull stuck to an aggressive strategy with Verstappen making a final pit stop from the lead, fitting soft tires and trying to chase down the top three late on. He passed George Russell but was held at bay by Kimi Antonelli in the closing laps and finished 10 seconds behind race winner Lando Norris.
“[The race was] Miles better than our qualifying, that’s for sure,” he said. “Just a very strong race. I think we had a much better pace. I think it was a bit colder today, which may have helped us. The car just felt a little more responsive.
“Even with the flat tire I got on the hard drive [tire]to then drop back to last and get through the field again on the mediums – I think we followed the right strategy in the end. Even on the soft it seemed like it was fine. As you get closer and I pass George, your tires are already a little worn. When I got close to Kimi the tires started to overheat and you lost a lot of grip. The soft is slightly more difficult than the medium.
“All in all, a super strong race. Coming from the pit lane to the podium, 10, 11 seconds off the lead – I think it’s a very strong result for us and I definitely didn’t expect that when I woke up this morning.”
Verstappen says he knew straight away before the race that he had a better car, but he didn’t set any targets on how high he could go.
“I jumped in the car; I just hoped the car would be more competitive,” he said. “On the laps to the grid it felt better than the whole weekend, I would say. After the start, picking up that puncture and being last again, I thought: ‘My God, nothing is really going my way this weekend.’
“Then you just sit down. You try to do your best – pass the cars in front of you, try to have the optimal strategy. It all worked out. With the team we did the right thing. At a certain point you are fighting for that podium and you see it with ten, twelve laps to go – that’s nice, but at the same time I don’t project anything in the race. I just concentrate on the moment and try to drive every lap as consistently as I can.
“In addition, the message is of course that through some adjustments we have found a much better feeling in the car. At the same time, it was also a lot colder today and that may also have an effect.”
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