Christian Horner has explained how Max Verstappen has been left "very motivated" by the Sao Paulo Grand Prix sprint.
The Dutchman incurred a post-race five-second time penalty, which dropped him from third to fourth, costing him a championship point as he looks to fend off Lando Norris, who won the race.
Nevertheless, the 27-year-old was "pretty pumped" by the result, as confirmed by his Red Bull team principal.
Having started fourth, the three-time drivers' champion was able to dispatch of Charles Leclerc, and then apply pressure to the pair of McLarens leading the one-third distance race.
"He [Verstappen] came back from that race pretty pumped up that if he'd have managed to pass Charles [Leclerc] earlier, he thinks he could have had a go at the McLarens," Horner told Sky Sports F1.
"He was very motivated by that. I think the whole team was pleased to see that. There were a lot of positives to take out of that short sprint race."
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With qualifying for the grand prix postponed until Sunday morning, it provided more time to assess the results of the sprint, something that will leave Red Bull optimistic for the rest of the weekend - once it gets going.
Horner confirmed the performance of the RB20 caught the team, as well as the rest of the F1 paddock, off guard.
Ferrari, having won the previous two grand prix, where unable to live with Verstappen's pace, and the Dutchman was also able to match McLaren in what is a perceived area of strength for the Woking-based team.
"We were quite surprised, because the pace... McLaren always seem so good on their tyres that they seem very strong in the races," the Horner explained.
"But in that race, they look the same as as we did, from everything we could see with the tyre.
"It was in exactly the same condition as Max's, and indeed, Max was able to stay in that slipstream for a very long period of time."
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