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Max Verstappen was elated to score his maiden points in Formula 1 as he became the youngest driver to claim a top 10 finish in the history of the sport at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Verstappen recovered from brake problems during the opening stint of the race to claim seventh position in only his second outing for Toro Rosso.
"I really enjoyed that," he said. "I’m very happy to have scored my first ever points in F1 and to end seventh! I think we did a great job as a team.
"The first few laps were a bit tricky for me as I was struggling a lot on the Medium tyres, so we boxed early for the Hard ones and that worked perfectly, the car felt great. We had a few good fights with other competitors and it was good fun.
"This was the right strategy and we did a great job managing the tyres. I felt well physically, it was quite hot at the end but I was still able to cope with it and be consistent, so I’m happy with that. This is a big boost for the team, we couldn’t have done a better job today."
While Verstappen stopped three times, team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr stopped twice on his way to eighth place.
"A two-stop strategy at a track like Sepang was never going to be easy, but it worked out well in the end and it’s definitely made me forget yesterday’s result in qualifying," he said.
"Starting from P15 and making it to P8 is amazing! There was a lot happening around me throughout the whole race, so it was very easy to lock-up, make mistakes or lose positions, but I kept calm and in the end it paid off.
"The conditions have been very tough here in Malaysia, much more than in Australia obviously, but we prepared well for it and I had no problems. Such a result gives us great confidence and motivation to keep up the good work. The team is doing an excellent job and to finish with both cars in the points is a great way to end the weekend."
