Verstappen and Hadjar could both be happy with their performances for the Milton Keynes team

It was a positive weekend for Red Bull Racing as Max Verstappen finished on the podium at the Belgian Grand Prix and team-mate Isack Hadjar picked up a strong points haul despite starting at the back.

Four-time champion Verstappen started second but led up the hill through Eau Rouge as he boosted past pole position man Kimi Antonelli but having used up his battery, the Mercedes and Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari came back past him into Les Combes.

Verstappen would later pass Leclerc but would hover behind championship leader Antonelli, before a handful of virtual safety car and full safety car laps saw Leclerc emerge from the pits in the lead, dropping Verstappen to third.

Those same periods though helped Hadjar immensely. Having stopped for medium tyres in the opening laps, he came back in to change to the hards immediately, allowing him to rise through the field when the others made their mandatory stops.

It meant he was able to come home in sixth for the team, while Verstappen stood on the podium in third.

“I'm very happy with how today played out,” said the Frenchman. “We had a clear plan from the moment we arrived in Spa, so we were able to put everything into getting the most out of the race, and we did exactly that.

“From P21 to P6 is not easy, but the strategy was perfect and the pace in the car was strong, so it's been an all-round team effort.

“With the Safety Car, we pitted early to give us options later on, and it worked out perfectly. Going through the pack is always fun, especially with the pace we had, which let me keep the gap to Lando (Norris) once he started to get closer.

“The goal after qualifying was to get back into the points. We added a few more on top of that to make for a satisfying afternoon."

Verstappen, claiming his sixth podium of the season, said: “I think we had a very good race, and hopefully we can have more weekends like this. I had too much deployment from turn one to turn two, and when I looked at my battery, I knew that I was going to have a difficult run.

“We were then a bit unlucky with the VSC, and it affected the strategy and our ability to fight for P2 in the end. The medium tyre was pretty decent, but we struggled a bit on the hard tyres in terms of grip and had few balance limitations, so we just need to analyse why it was a bit trickier than expected.

“However, we had the car in a good window, and I think we can be happy with the whole weekend and pleased to be on the podium. Overall it was a good result and a pretty solid weekend.”