Max Verstappen on Sunday at Interlagos his emotions went from “almost trying to destroy the garage to winning the race” after he recovered from a major setback in qualifying.
The win was his first since in a full length race since Barcelona in June and enabled him to build a cushion on Lando Norris, who started from pole but finished only sixth.
Verstappen qualified 12th after getting caught by a red flag in Q2, after which he made his frustration clear. He then dropped to 17th on the grid due to a five-place PU change penalty.
He was up to 11th by the end of lap 1 and had risen to fifth when a VSC emerged on lap 27.
While many drivers took the opportunity to pit for fresh inters Esteban Ocon and Verstappen opted not to, and moved into first and second immediately before a red flag gave them a free tyre change.
Soon after the resumption Verstappen moved past Ocon into the lead and he set a series of fastest laps as he pulled away to a comfortable win.
“I don’t even know where to start, because my emotions today have been from almost trying to destroy the garage to winning the race,” said Verstappen.
“I mean, starting P17… I knew that we could have a good race, but in qualifying, I think it was quite clear that there was only one line that you could take. So I knew that overtaking was going to be quite tough.
“But yeah, in the race, we had a good start. That helped already. We had a good first lap. From there, we just picked off a few drivers here and there. Then I got a little bit stuck behind the train of Yuki, I think. Then we just stayed calm. It was still a very long race, naturally.”
Verstappen stressed that the team got his strategy just right: “We made the right calls. When some pitted, the rain was coming, we stayed out. Which was very sketchy.
“And then I saw Esteban in front of me flying, like four seconds a lap faster and I was like, ‘I’m just happy to keep the car on the track.’
“At one point it was just red, like we needed a red flag. It was just undriveable, even on extreme tyres, it would have not been possible because of the banking of the track here, it’s filling up very quickly and it almost felt like I was driving a boat.”
Verstappen admitted he had no specific expectations heading into the race.
“I was just very motivated to get a good race and just let the race pan out and see what happens,” he said. “Because in a wet race, always some crazy things can happen.
“But soon I was passing a few cars, and I had always one lap or two laps of free air. I was always the fastest on the track.
“So, I knew that, ‘OK, we are quick.’ I just need to try and pass the guys to try and have a run to the front. I felt comfortable in the car. I feel comfortable in the wet anyway, but then when the car is also performing, it just doubles up and you can really pick up the pace.”
Verstappen insisted that he only realised that he could win the race when he passed Ocon.
“When I got past Esteban in Turn 1,” he said when asked. “Before that, the pace was there, I was just trying to build it up slowly.
“Because after the red flag, the restart was very fast. And then just when the safety car actually came out, I was starting to catch him a bit. But then the tyres were, again, very cold. And then in the restart, I got by.
“And from there onwards, I just tried to look after the tyres, because you never know what was going to happen to the end.
“The wear is always very high around here. But yeah, I felt good. The car was having a nice balance. I just had to be concentrated to not make any mistakes, because the surface was still slippery.”
Regarding the championship fight he said: “Of course looking at it it was incredibly important because in a way I was expecting to lose points today.
“So from now, I just want clean races to the end. I’m not thinking about clinching the championship in Vegas or whatever. I just want clean races.”
