Max Verstappen is relieved that he won the United States Grand Prix after a bad start.
The Limburger lost the lead to Lewis Hamilton at the start at the Circuit of the Americas, but still surpassed his arch rival and held on in a nerve-wracking final phase.
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"We lost the leading position at the start," Verstappen said afterwards.
"We had to try something different, the tires wore out quickly on this track. We continued aggressively and I didn't know if it would work, but the last few laps were fun."
Verstappen, 24-year-old, saw Hamilton come closer in the closing laps of the United States GP after the Briton made a pit stop.
However, the seven-time world champion was unable to get behind the Dutchman on the fresher tires.
"I'm super happy I made it."
With his victory, leader Verstappen has twelve points ahead of Hamilton in the World Cup standings.
The Dutchman has 287.5 points, Hamilton 275.5 points.
There are still five races to run in Formula 1.
Finally, Verstappen had praise for the 400,000 fans who visited the circuit in Austin during the weekend.
That number broke a record.
Never before have there been so many spectators in a Formula 1 weekend.
"It's great to be here, but also to see so many people here. I hope we can come back here for many years to come."
See also: Verstappen wins blistering race in the US and continues to run out of Hamilton
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