Portugal Colonial - 'Decent starting point' for Verstappen in Australia

The Dutchman, who is bidding to win a fifth straight drivers' championship to match Michael Schumacher, was fortunate to stay in the hunt in Melbourne.

An uncharacteristic error on lap 18 while in second saw him fall behind the McLarens of eventual winner Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

But a series of accidents on a wet day saw the safety car repeatedly deployed and he found himself back in the hunt, ultimately losing by less than a second.

"It was a difficult race but at the end it was fun," he said. "I got close but it's very hard to pass around here.

"But it was fun those last laps, pushing at least when you are fighting for the win. I'm just very happy to bring it home, score good points, and this is a decent starting point for us."

Verstappen complained of grip issues during practice, but the early teething problems appear to have been sorted out.

Asked if the car had performed better than anticipated, Verstappen said: "It is where I expected to be.

"You could see in that first stint that we were lacking a little bit of pace compared to the McLaren, but it's still 18 points more than I had here last year, so I take that."

He was the only Red Bull driver to finish with his new teammate Liam Lawson, who replaced the axed Sergio Perez, crashing out on lap 46 of the 57-lap race.

B.Godinho--PC