Red Bull Racing F1 driver Max Verstappen won the 21st round of the season in Brazil after a disastrous qualifying session and starting from P17.
Helmut Marko, Jos Verstappen, and Christian Horner suggested this had to be one of the best, if not the best, performances that we've seen from the Dutchman in his career so far (and he's had quite a few astonishing ones).
The triple World Champion himself said after the Grand Prix that he would definitely put the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix victory amongst his best.
But he didn't forget how hopeless everything felt after the unlucky qualifying session. The 27-year-old admitted he was super angry after missing out on Q3.
However, he told Viaplay that he used all the negatives as a source of motivation:
"I almost broke the whole garage [after the qualifying]; I just managed to hold back. I was very motivated when I started the race. I'm at my very best like that."
Starting from so far back, a strong start was crucial for Verstappen, and he went from P17 to P11 in just one lap. From that point on, the Dutchman gradually made his way through the field.
By lap 44, Verstappen was in the lead of the Grand Prix, and by the end of the race, the triple World Champion was more than 19 seconds ahead of everyone else.
"My emotions went from left to right over the whole day, Yes, unbelievable. The speed was right there. We had a world-class start."
"Then stayed out of trouble, then I was and bit stuck, but then made the right decision with the red flag to stay outside."
"After that, it was unbearable with the rain. It took a very long time before a red flag came. But after that, when I was in the lead, I was unleashed. I never thought this was possible."
