Max Verstappen hails Red Bull’s “never give up” attitude after podium recovery

Max Verstappen has credited Red Bull’s winning mentality for his remarkable recovery to the podium after starting from the pit lane at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Verstappen finished third at Interlagos on Sunday, becoming the first driver since Lewis Hamilton in 2014 to finish on the podium after starting an F1 Grand Prix from the pits.

After his first Q1 exit since Russia 2021, Red Bull elected to take Verstappen out of parc fermé.

This decision allowed Red Bull to give Verstappen a fresh power unit, which will benefit him for the rest of the season, and make radical setup changes to improve his car’s handling.

It paid off as Verstappen displayed lightning pace, carving his way through the field.

Even with a puncture early on, Verstappen recovered to finish on the podium, within one second of Kimi Antonelli in P2.

Speaking after the race to Sky Sports, Verstappen hailed Red Bull’s attitude of always seeking improvements - and taking risks.

“Afterwards it’s easy to say. I think what I like is that yes, it’s been difficult for us but the team never gives up,” Verstappen said.

“We always want to be better. We don’t settle for second as otherwise you can easily say after the sprint ‘let’s not touch the car, we’re not too bad, let’s not risk it’. I don’t think that’s the penalty of the team.

“We always want to try and find more performance. That didn’t work out in qualifying but it did allow us to change the car again and make it a lot more competitive today.

“We have to be aware that today is a bit colder. It probably helped us a little bit but overall, to come from the pit lane all the way to the podium, 10, 11 seconds off the lead, with a puncture as well, I think it’s an incredible result for us.”

Verstappen on F1 title chances

With Lando Norris winning the race, Verstappen is 49 points off the lead with three rounds and one sprint race to go.

Verstappen conceded that he lost “too many points” at the beginning of the season.

The four-time world champion is hopeful that he can end the season on a high with a couple more victories.

“We already lost too many points from the beginning of the season to the middle of the season,” Verstappen added.

“We were in that up until that now already was a surprise. We have to be realistic.

“I think over the whole season we’ve not been good enough but we will still try everything we can until the end of the season to score some highlights and try to win races. That’s what we’re here for.”