Max Verstappen says he could never have expected to finish on the podium after starting the Russian Grand Prix from the back of the grid.
Verstappen took a penalty after Red Bull elected to equip his RB16B with a fresh Honda power unit and as a consequence he started from the rear of the field.
Verstappen worked his way into the points, and was holding seventh, but appeared unlikely to make any further gains until rain began falling at Sochi.
Verstappen was among the first drivers to switch to Intermediate tyres and profited from the call by rising to second, behind only title rival Lewis Hamilton.
“We will definitely take that result,” said Verstappen. “Of course to come from last to second is very good and when I woke up this morning I definitely didn’t expect this result.
“To finish where we did with the penalty we had, we didn’t lose as many points as we could have so as a team we did a really good job.
“It was a crucial call to change to the inters, it was really slippery on track and we made a great decision with the timing and took the right lap to pit.
“A lot of things can happen when you’re starting from the back of the grid, especially on the first lap when other cars are fighting each other, but we stayed out of trouble, kept it clean, and managed our race very well.
“The race itself was not very easy, it was difficult to pass other cars and once you got stuck it was easy to damage your tyres but luckily in the end the rain helped us make the last jump in positions.”
Verstappen slipped behind Hamilton in the standings but only by two points.
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