Max Verstappen finished the European Grand Prix in eighth for Red Bull Racing after a late race pass on Nico Hulkenberg.
The Dutchman qualified ninth at the Baku City Circuit and managed to improve this by one position to finish the Grand Prix in eighth, behind team-mate Daniel Ricciardo. With the Supersoft and Soft compound, Verstappen found that there was too much degradation, but once he changed to the Medium compound, he felt like he was flying out on track.
Verstappen knew it would be difficult to catch his rivals ahead from his starting position, believing in the end, the Milton Keynes outfit still did a good job.
“It was a tricky start, but a good end,” said Verstappen. “On the supersoft and the soft tyres we had too much degradation in the rear and from there on, once we changed to the medium tyres, I felt like I was flying in the end.
“My lap times were coming down very nicely – I managed to drive back to eighth and almost seventh. With the start position I had it was going to be difficult to catch the front guys, but I think in the end we did a good job.
“Of course you want to finish higher up but that was not possible today. I had the third-fastest lap today in the race so I can’t complain.”
