Red Bull’s Max Verstappen “didn’t think” he would achieve third place in a stunning drive at 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
After a disastrous qualifying session left Verstappen 16th on the grid and out in Q1, Red Bull withdrew his car from parc ferme to make setup and power unit changes which necessitated a pit lane start,
Verstappen eventually overcame an early puncture which put his tyre strategy out of sync and forced him to opt for a three-stopper, as he recovered to third after he was fended off by Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli who finished second behind winner – Lando Norris.
The reigning four-time champion though didn’t even anticipate that third place was achievable following his early puncture, but credited Red Bull for their strategy decision-making.
“From pitlane to podium, this weekend has completely turned around for me, something that I didn’t think was possible.
The start of the race was very hectic and I picked up a puncture early on from a load of debris on the track which meant that I pretty much had to start the race again.
“The Team used the right strategy from start to finish which allowed me to get through all of the traffic ahead of me very efficiently.
“I definitely had to send it a few times to get past the other cars but I love doing that and ended up having a really fun race, which was totally unexpected.
Overall it showed that we had really good pace today and that the grip was much better than the last couple of days.”
Verstappen added that the atmosphere “spurred” him in his motivation to take risks and finish just over 10 seconds off Norris, as he praised Antonelli for his drive to second as a rookie.
“The atmosphere at Interlagos was amazing and it really spurred me on. We kept pushing and took multiple risks this weekend because we never want to settle for second and we didn’t give up. To start in the pitlane and finish P3 on the podium only 10 seconds off P1 was incredible.
“A huge congratulations to Kimi as well, he drove amazingly well which will have given his confidence a huge boost which is great for any rookie!”
Norris’ victory however meant that Verstappen sits 49 points off the summit currently held by the Brit with a maximum haul of 83 points available at the final three rounds, meaning that the Dutchman realistically need to win the last three races and sprint with luck elsewhere to defend his crown.
The 28-year-old consequently feels that he simply has to keep battling for the wins and focus on performance extraction than the title in the season-closing triple-header.
“Now all we can do is keep fighting hard over the final few races of the season and do the best that we possibly can whilst trying to find as much performance as we can extract from the car.”
Leave a Reply