Max Verstappen's father Jos Verstappen says even he was surprised by how well his son drove during the Brazilian Grand Prix, to recover to third place following the wrong strategy call.
Verstappen started fourth and climbed to second at one point after a brilliant pass on Rosberg. However Red Bull called Verstappen in for a switch the intermediate tyre, just as the rain intensified, forcing him to switch back to the full wet tyre later in the race.
That dropped the Dutchman down to 16th, and with just 15 laps remaining, he managed to fight his way through the field to finish third – almost one overtake per lap – to claim the final spot on the podium.
"I must say he surprised me today," commented Jos. "I've seen many races he did, and today it was incredible.
"He did himself a big pleasure today. They didn't have the right strategy, unlucky with weather probably, but afterwards it was worth having a bad stop!
"It's good for Formula 1, everyone is enthusiastic. What more do you want?"
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner described the drive as "one of the best" he's seen in recent years and defended their strategy call.
"That was one of the best drives I've seen in F1 to be honest, his recovery was amazing. We gave it a go on the inters, it looked right at that crossover point.
"Daniel set a few purple sector times, it was the kind of call that could have won you the race, but in the end the rain increased and we gave them a huge amount to do.
"The way he drove the last 15 laps was incredible. From running in fourth or whatever, it was to give that up and drop to the back of the field, he said 'I can’t get around the last sector on these tyres'.
"So from a safety point of view I said we put him on extremes and go for it. From the moment he set off on that restart, he wanted to get back into a podium position.
"He was using bits of tarmac, looking for the grip, he was weaving and bobbing behind the safety car. He was using all those karting lines, all that experience. He was absolutely fearless in pretty horrific conditions today."
