Max Verstappen labeled his P8 finish in Austria as a great result for Scuderia Toro Rosso, which once again had the upper hand most of the afternoon of its senior Renaut-powered squad.
The young Dutchman was incisive and active throughout the whole afternoon, launching his race from seventh on the grid and enjoying some tight battles with the likes of Bottas, Kvyat and Maldonado.
"I'm happy with today's race, I think we did everything we could and had some good fights," commented the rookie. "I enjoyed every lap to be honest! The car worked really well and especially the last few laps were quite exciting. We were very close to ending in P7, but I'm very happy with P8, it's a great result for the whole team."
Given its 'power-circuit' traits, Austria was never going to be an easy race for Toro Rosso, and the end result certainly surpassed expectations.
" This track is one of the hardest for us but I was really happy with the car and I enjoyed my fights. On the straights we weren’t so fast, but even with the loss of a position at the end, we can be very happy with P8, it is very positive."
As Verstappen trailed Nico Hulkenberg early on, he was ordered to trim his pace slightly in order to let his brakes cool, eventually falling into the clutches of Bottas' Williams and dropping a bit further down the order after that. At the end of the round of pit stops, young Max settled into seventh but soon came under attack from Pastor Maldonado whose Lotus had the benefit of running on fresher and softer tyres.
The teenager tried to defend his position when Maldonado mounted an attack at the end of the main straight, but Verstappen locked up into Turn 1, ran wide and finally handed the place to the Lotus driver.
"The tyres were completely gone," said the rookie. "You try to keep him behind you, especially with the advantage he has on the straights, you have to put your all into the braking and your traction, so tyres were completely gone at the end of the race."
At the end of the day it was a good race for the Toro Rosso junior, and one in which he added another good dose of knowledge to his increasing experience.
"We've learned more about the tyres and I think that the updates we brought are positive, so all in all, everything felt really good in the race today. I'm also happy to have finally scored some more points, especially here at the Red Bull Ring"
Click here for the gallery of the Formula Una girls at the Austrian Grand Prix
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