Max Verstappen hailed his Red Bull car as "unbelievable" after cruising to victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Having qualified third behind Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen at Sepang, Verstappen received a boost when the Finn failed to start the race due to a turbo issue.
Verstappen, who turned 20 on Saturday, duly passed championship leader Hamilton on lap four, before demonstrating excellent pace to comfortably claim a second career win.
READ: Birthday boy pips Hamilton
"In the beginning, straight away the car felt good and I saw Lewis was struggling a bit with traction," said the Dutchman in his podium interview.
"I used my battery as much as I could and, of course, he [Hamilton] has more to lose than me in the championship, so I went for it in Turn 1 and then I could do my own race.
"The car was unbelievable. If I had to speed up, I could.
"It was a very tough race and incredible to win."
Hamilton paid tribute to the pace of Verstappen and Red Bull, adding: "Big congratulations to Max, and happy birthday. He did a fantastic job.
"The race was a tough one. Obviously they just had the upper hand on us.
"I feel good but I think we have some work to do with the car. Obviously we didn't have the pace this weekend so there's still work to do, still races ahead. There's some that we can win but we have to keep pushing."
Comments
SHARE