Max Verstappen described his second victory in Formula 1 as “amazing” after taking the chequered flag at the Malaysian Grand Prix to finally enjoy a high after a torrid 2017.
The Dutchman, promoted up to second as Kimi Raikkonen failed to make the start, would hold onto that position against a fast-starting Valtteri Bottas in the first sector and would then quickly set about catching and passing polesitter Lewis Hamilton for the lead in the early laps.
Once ahead, he wouldn’t look back as he finally added to his sole triumph from Spain last year, stretching his lead throughout the race and eventually leading the Mercedes by over 12 seconds by the finish.
Coming a day after his 20th birthday and after a season hit by poor reliability and first corner crashes, Verstappen admitted it was a relief to finally have something to celebrate.
“It’s amazing. It’s a very tough race, so it’s incredible to win,” he said. “Especially after the season I’ve had, I think this victory came at a very good time. I was really happy when I crossed the line. Together with my dad I came this far, and then I got the great help from Red Bull.”
The decisive moment came when Verstappen made a bold move on the championship leader Hamilton into Turn 1 using DRS and, talking through the overtake, admitted he used his lack of pressure to his advantage.
“I had a good run out of the last corner and opted to go for the inside,” he said. “I knew Lewis had more to lose as he was fighting for the championship so I took an extra risk because of it, it was my only chance.
“Once I was past Lewis, I could focus on pace and look after my tyres,” he added. “It was pleasing – it was the first time I have had that in my [F1] career.”
As for teammate Daniel Ricciardo, it looked likely he could make it a second straight Red Bull 1-2 at Sepang after he led Verstappen home a year ago. However, falling behind Bottas at the start proved costly for the Australian.
“You’re always hoping for better if you don’t win, and especially if your team-mate wins, but I’m not too disappointed,” he said.
“The only thing is the start when Valtteri chose the outside. It was the better line to take… the inside at the end was probably not the best choice – it was more conservative.
“I had a couple of go’s at him, he defended pretty well initially and then finally got around him but by then Max and Lewis had taken off,” the Baku race winner added.
“I think towards the end of that first stint, the super-soft, I was keeping pretty good times on them, finally bringing some lap time back but they all pitted before and pulled away again.
“On the soft, I wouldn’t say I was as strong as probably the end of that first stint so, for the most part, a bit of a lonely race.”
