Toro Rosso driver Max Verstappen staged a comeback to finish in eighth place, despite losing a whole lap, after his car stalled at the lights, but the youngster appeared to enjoy the race.
“It was an amazing race, I enjoyed it a lot! After stalling at the start, I thought it was over, as I was pushed to the pit-lane and then re-joined the race one lap behind… But I just kept on pushing and to finish P8 is just fantastic!”
The Dutchman fought through the field, aided by 2 safety cars and a risky strategy, as he attempted to complete more than one-third of the Grand Prix on the Super-soft Option tyre. Verstappen managed to nurse his tires to the end, overtaking Lotus’ Romain Grosjean after benefitting from a coming together involving the Frenchman’s teammate and McLaren’s Jenson Button. In spite of the commotion, Verstappen felt that his pace warranted a points finish.
“My pace was great and once again I really enjoyed all the overtaking!… I think I deserved that P8.”
In the latter stages of the race, the 17-year-old was ordered to move over by his team, immediately refusing to allow his teammate to take his eighth position.
“I don’t think there was any reason for me to give up my position after going from being one lap behind to being back in the points.”
However, Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost has said he wasn’t disappointed that Verstappen disobeyed the team.
Verstappen’s points finish means that he moves level with Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, as he has now attained 30 points so far in only his second season since moving up from karts
