Max Verstappen survived a chaotic Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia to give Red Bull-Ford Powertrains its first win in his debut F1 season hailed by the four-time champion as "incredible".
After a 100-minute delay, the race at the Sepang International Circuit finally got going, with Verstappen losing his pole off the line to Mercedes pair Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.
Verstappen eventually clawed his way back to the front, and despite a late safety car, he crossed the line 2.307s ahead of Antonelli to claim his 72nd career victory.
"It's a really nice one after the year we've had and the progression we've made, so I'm really proud of everyone," said Verstappen, speaking to Sky Sports F1. "It's so nice to win here."
Addressing what unfolded during the race, he added: "It was very hectic, with a lot of different things at the start - no power, so you have to wait for the power to kick in.
"But then we made the right call with the intermediates, and after that, step by step, we moved our way forward.
"From there we could do our own race until the end again, until the safety car, but we kept it all under control."
As to Red Bull-Ford scoring its maiden win in his first year in F1, he simply described it as "incredible!"
He added: "To win our first race in our first year with our own power unit is pretty impressive."
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