Verstappen: "I thought I wouldn't race, this feels like a victory"
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Max Verstappen praises himself with his second place in the Hungarian Grand Prix. It was feared that the Dutchman would not be able to participate in the race due to a crash en route to the starting grid, but the Red Bull Racing mechanics managed to fix the car. In the end, Verstappen managed to keep competitor Valtteri Bottas behind in the last laps and he is satisfied.
"It was not how I wanted at the beginning, of course, ending up in the barriers, a bit of a lack of grip - but the mechanics did an amazing job to fix the car. I don't know how they did it, incredible. Everything was working as normal," Verstappen said ahead of the podium celebrations.
The work on the grid was carried out quickly and the repairs were completed just in time. "It was close and everything worked as normal," he adds.
Bottas eventually came very close, but he never got the chance to attempt an overtake. "You never know. I wanted to drive at my own pace. I saw that he was getting closer. Tracking here is quite difficult, so closer to me it became more difficult for him. We did suffer from traffic, which didn't make it any easier for me."
Verstappen adds eighteen World Championship points and he would not have dreamed of that fifteen minutes before the race. "I thought I wouldn't race, so second place is like a win."