Verstappen: Red Bull in test mode during lonely Belgian GP

Max Verstappen used a lonely Belgian Grand Prix to "test" his Red Bull, as he cruised to an almost totally unchallenged third place at Spa-Francorchamps. Starting seventh on the grid, the Red Bull man delighted his masses of orange-clad fans with some early passes, but Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel were uncatchable ahead.

Verstappen finished 20 seconds down on Hamilton, but 37 seconds ahead of fourth-placed Valtteri Bottas to take the final podium spot.

Romain Grosjean, Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez put up little resistance to the Red Bull in the opening stages, but he was soon frustrated and saw a hopeful request for rain dismissed by his team.

Still, third place was a fine reward after under-fuelling had cost the Dutchman in qualifying and he pointed out his relief to avoid trouble on a mad opening lap - unlike his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, who eventually had to retire.

"It was a bit of chaos in Turn One, but luckily I was on the inside so no crazy things happening there," he told Sky Sports.

Very happy with this podium at Spa! A special one for me! We stayed out of trouble, the car worked well and we maximized our result. Thanks @redbullracing, and all Dutch fans for the fantastic support ???? #KeepPushing #BelgianGP #OrangeArmy pic.twitter.com/SmhEWScuxz — Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) August 26, 2018

"In lap one I passed Grosjean up the hill, so that was good for the race, then I knew I had to be patient with the Force Indias because we had the pace to go by. But still they were bloody quick on the straight because I thought when I opened the DRS 'now I'll just drive by' but it was still a bit harder than I expected.

"But at least it was a bit enjoyable as after that it was a bit of lonely race. Still important to test the car and how much you could push, it seemed all good. We were too slow compared to Seb and Lewis, but the balance was good.

"It's always good to be on the podium and to be on the podium here is even more special."