Max Verstappen admitted he didn’t expect to finish on the podium at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, praising his and Red Bull’s “incredible” comeback from the pitlane.
Red Bull opted on Saturday to install a new power unit and change the suspension settings on Verstappen’s car overnight, necessitating a pit lane start, after both cars were eliminated in Q1 for the first time in 19 years. The defending champion made headway from the start on hard tires, then fell back again with a puncture, but put in a thrilling battle to finish third and stay on the podium.
“The race was pretty authentic and there was a lot of action,” Verstappen said. “We had to pass some cars coming from the pit lane and I think our pace was pretty strong throughout the whole stint. Sometimes it’s a little difficult to get a full picture because of traffic and other things, but I never expected to be on the podium coming from the pit lane, even though we had a puncture early in the race. So we had to box again.”
“It’s an incredible result for us. I’m very happy and very proud of the whole team. Yesterday was very tough for us, but we never give up. We always try to improve and try to find more lap times. Luckily, we were able to find it today as well.”
Red Bull stuck to an aggressive strategy, with Verstappen being the last to pit from the front, putting on soft tires and trying to corner the top three in the closing stages. He passed George Russell but was held back by Kimi Antonelli on the final lap and finished 10 seconds behind winner Lando Norris.
“(The race) was miles better than qualifying, that’s for sure,” he said. “It was a very strong race. I think our pace was a lot better. It was a little cold today so maybe that helped. I felt the car responded a little better.”
“Despite the hard (tire) puncture, I think I made the right strategy in the end to go all the way back and get out of the field again on the medium. I think I was OK on the soft as well. By the time you started to get close and passed George, the tire was already a little worn. And just as I was getting close to you, the tire started to overheat and I lost a lot of grip. Soft is a little more difficult than medium in that respect.”
“Overall, it was a very strong race. We came out of the pit lane on the podium and were 10 or 11 seconds off the lead. I think it’s a very good result for us, but it’s not at all what I expected when I woke up this morning.”
Verstappen said he knew right away before the race that he had a better car, but he didn’t set a goal for how high he could finish.
“I jumped in the car, I just wanted the car to be more competitive,” he said. “I can say that in the laps I got to the grid I already felt better than I did the whole weekend. After the start, when I picked up a puncture and found myself in last place again, I thought, ‘Oh my God, nothing is going to go right this weekend.’
“After that you just calm down. You try to do the best you can. You try to overtake the car in front, you try to implement the optimal strategy. It all worked out. Together with the team, we did the right thing. At some point, we were aiming for the podium. It’s good, but at the same time in the race, I’m not predicting anything. I’m just trying to stay focused in the moment and be consistent every lap as much as I can.
“Obviously, on top of that, the message is that we’ve made some changes and the car feels even better. At the same time, it was pretty cold today, so that might have played a role as well.”
