Verstappen hails 'unbelievable' car after Malaysian gp win

Sepang: Max Verstappen capped a perfect birthday weekend with victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix and then hailed his Red Bull team for giving him an "unbelievable" car. Third on the grid, Verstappen was second by the end of the pit straight after Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen retired from second spot before the start with engine problems. It took him only four laps to reel in pole-sitter Hamilton and from there the young Dutchman was never in any danger, taking a dominant victory on the day after his 20th birthday. "I think in the beginning, straight away, the car felt good," said Verstappen.

"Saw Lewis was struggling a bit... of course he has more to lose in the championship, so I went for it at turn one. "From there I could do my own race. The car was unbelievable, if I had to speed up I could. It was a very tough race and incredible to win." Hamilton came second to extend his drivers' championship lead to 34 points over Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo completed the podium at the Sepang International Circuit. It was Verstappen's second career grand prix victory but only his second podium finish in a 2017 season which has seen him fail to finish seven of the 15 races. "Super, super job," said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner over team radio after Verstappen took the chequered flag The son of former Formula One driver Jos Verstappen was third at the Chinese Grand Prix back in April.