Max Verstappen admitted his surprise and delight when he was told he was running in fourth during the Hungarian Grand Prix, especially after a drive-through penalty for speeding behind the safety car and surviving a clash with Valtteri Bottas that gave the Williams Martini Racing driver a puncture.
The Scuderia Toro Rosso driver secured the best result of the season for the team at the Hungaroring, feeling comfortable in his STR10, but admitted he did not expect the top four finish, especially after making a sluggish start from his ninth place on the grid to drop outside the top ten.
“Unbelievable, a P4! What a great result, I have no words!” said Verstappen. “I didn’t expect that at all after a bit of a bad start.
“However I managed to stay out of trouble and during my second stint everything was going well, I felt comfortable in the car and the guys behind me were not catching me up.
“When the race restarted after the Safety Car period there was a lot going on, with cars crashing in front of me… I also damaged my front-wing a bit and was given a drive-through penalty. So with a few laps to go I was asking my engineer in what position we were in, and when he said P4 I just couldn’t believe it!
“I’m very, very happy today. I’d like to thank the team, they are a great support and they deserve this result, I couldn’t have done it without them!”
