Max Verstappen joins exclusive club after pit lane to podium Sao Paulo GP drive

Max Verstappen has joined an exclusive club following his remarkable recovery to finish on the podium at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

After a disastrous qualifying session, Red Bull decided to start Verstappen from the pit lane.

By doing this, they could give him a fresh engine and make drastic setup changes.

It paid off, as Verstappen’s pace was immediately capable of challenging for a podium once in clean air.

His race was initially curtailed by an early puncture, but due to the timing of it, he was able to stop under the Virtual Safety Car.

It also meant he could ditch the unfavoured hard tyre before slicing his way through the field.

Verstappen briefly led the race before making his final pit stop, moving onto a set of softs.

On fresh rubber, he overtook George Russell into Turn 1 and pressured Kimi Antonelli in the closing stages for second.

Verstappen is now 49 points behind Lando Norris with three races and one sprint to go.

The four-time world champion’s podium finish, having started from the pit lane, means he joins a very exclusive list of drivers to do so.

Lewis Hamilton – Hungary 2014

An engine blowout in qualifying at the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix forced Mercedes to change Lewis Hamilton’s chassis.

Starting from the pit lane, Hamilton recovered to finish third at the Hungaroring.

It could have been fourth had Hamilton obeyed Mercedes’ team orders.

The team felt Nico Rosberg, who was on fresher tyres at the time, had a better shot at challenging the cars ahead for the win.

Fernando Alonso looked on course for an unlikely victory for Ferrari, but he was overtaken by Daniel Ricciardo.

Ricciardo pulled off two stunning moves to take his second victory of the year.

Hamilton would go on to win the 2014 title - his second in F1 - after triumphing at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Sebastian Vettel – Abu Dhabi 2012

Sebastian Vettel’s 2012 title bid took a decisive blow in qualifying at the Yas Marina Circuit.

After qualifying third, Vettel was excluded from the session after not having the required amount of fuel left in his car for the FIA to obtain a sample.

Vettel started from the pit lane after Red Bull made changes to his car setup overnight.

Despite a tricky start to the race - including running into a polystyrene board under the Safety Car - Vettel recovered well.

His podium finish was confirmed after pulling off a bold overtake on Jenson Button in the latter stages.

It was a big result for Vettel, who left Abu Dhabi with a 10-point lead over Alonso in the drivers’ championship.