Max Verstappen revealed that he was surprised to finish on the podium in the Mexico City Grand Prix, given his difficulties across the weekend.
While Verstappen topped second practice on Friday, he complained across every session that he had no rear grip. For the first time since Red Bull introduced the new floor in Monza, it did not possess the quickest car.
As a result of Red Bull's struggles at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Verstappen qualified in fifth and several tenths adrift of Lando Norris on pole.
In the race, Verstappen opted to start on the medium compound, while those around him chose the softs. A good start was achieved, only to be forced off the circuit at the first corner.
He later battled with Lewis Hamilton, before bailing out of his first stint to be put onto the soft tyres. When on the softs, the four-time world champion came alive.
Verstappen calved through the field and staggeringly caught Charles Leclerc despite having been over 15 seconds adrift.
A remarkable 30 consecutive 1m 21s laps were set by the 28-year-old, who would have likely claimed second if not for a late Virtual Safety Car.
It left Verstappen with no choice but to settle for third, but he still reduced his deficit in the standings to 36 points.
"Yeah. I mean, personally, I didn't expect to be on the podium," said Verstappen. "And I think even in the first stint, it was not really looking like it.
"At the time, I thought we were just slow and struggling on tyres. I do think then, of course, when we swapped to the soft and the others were on mediums, it all looked a bit more competitive.
"I think, still not to the level of Lando if you take the average of the race, but the soft definitely was a better compound to race on, and it all felt a bit better.
"So, yeah, I think overall to be P3 has been really good on, yeah, for us a difficult weekend."
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