Verstappen pays tribute to mechanics after Hungarian GP podium

Just 15 minutes before the lights went out in Hungary, Max Verstappen was nose deep in the barriers and wondering whether he could even start. Two hours later he was on the podium.

Heading into Turn 12 en route to the starting grid, Verstappen's Red Bull locked up in the wet, sending him into the sponsor boards, breaking his front wing and suspension and putting his place in the race under threat.

But thanks to his quick-working mechanics, Verstappen not only made the start but jumped from seventh to third by Turn 2. He passed Lance Stroll when the drivers switched to dry tries in the early stages, and though he couldn't keep pace with dominant race winner Lewis Hamilton, Verstappen was delighted to just make the start to claim back-to-back podiums.

“This podium is definitely dedicated to my mechanics," he said afterwards. "I thought the race was over before it had even started. I braked, locked a wheel, came off the brakes and tried to brake again but went straight on into the wall on the out lap. I couldn’t believe it but I managed to reverse out of the wall and get to the grid.

"As a Team we never give up and the mechanics did an incredible job to fix the car so quickly, I don’t think anyone could actually believe they managed it but they all stayed very calm.

The track was still pretty greasy but I had a good start. You cannot plan going into Turn 1 but I saw there was a traffic jam on the inside so I thought I would go around the outside where I knew there was grip in the wet and it worked. The race could have been very different if I was stuck in seventh place for a few laps that’s for sure.

"We then made all the right strategy calls and I just had to manage my tyres, be as consistent as possible and manage the backmarkers. To be second here between the two dominant Mercedes cars is an unbelievable result and we did not expect it yesterday after qualifying and such a difficult weekend. We want to try to close the gap to Mercedes, they are really dominant at the moment so it will be very hard to beat them but we won’t stop trying.”