Max Verstappen expressed his surprise and satisfaction after coming away from the Hungarian Grand Prix with a P2 finish, having struggled in Qualifying and described his race as one of “survival”.
Verstappen and Red Bull had no answer to the pace of the McLarens, Ferraris and Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes in Saturday’s grid-deciding session, provisionally leaving him sixth on the grid and with a long Sunday afternoon ahead.
However, the Dutchman gained two spots before the race started when Lewis Hamilton and Antonelli were penalised for separate rule breaches, and then jumped to third on the opening lap – ahead of Charles Leclerc.
Verstappen expertly defended from the Ferraris across the opening stint, despite complaining of various issues with his car, and after falling behind Hamilton at the first round of stops, he immediately fought back with a late move under braking at Turn 1.
From there, Verstappen kept himself firmly in the mix for a podium finish, gaining further ground when Oscar Piastri retired amid gearbox trouble and Hamilton pitted under the subsequent Virtual Safety Car period, and then nursing his ageing soft tyres to the end.
Asked if a podium, and second place, was beyond what he and Red Bull were expecting after Qualifying, Verstappen said: “Yeah, for sure. I didn’t expect to be on the podium today, but we worked hard for it.
“I think the start was decent to get through at Turn 1 and 2, then after the first stop to get back ahead of Lewis under braking into Turn 1.
“Then it was just trying to survive on the [tyre] compounds, trying to make the right calls with strategy as well. I’m very happy to be second here, considering [everything].”
Verstappen also shared some more thoughts around his decisive overtake on Hamilton early in the race, when both drivers were bedding in sets of hard tyres.
“I saw the opportunity as my only one and I just went for it,” he explained. “We’re good on the brakes, so that helped! It was all under control.”
