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Sochi - Max Verstappen marked his 21st birthday on Sunday with a memorable drive from 19th on the grid to finish fifth for Red Bull in the Russian Grand Prix.
The Dutchman, who has declared he wants to win four world titles in the future, said he felt happy with not only his result, but also the style of his charge through the field at the Sochi Autodrom.
"My goal was always to be P5, but (with) the way in which we did it today, I can be very pleased," he said.
"But I was not sure about it before the race."
Verstappen started at the back of the grid after picking up penalties for engine rules infringements and said he had rejected the chance to taste a birthday cake baked for him before the race.
"I think I will have some now, though," he said, once the race, won by Mercedes' world champion Lewis Hamilton, was over.
Red Bull team chief Christian Horner praised the young prodigy, who had the longest spell as race leader, for his maturity.
"It was a pity he had to stop, but it was mandatory," he said referring to Verstappen's late pit stop for new tyres when he was leading the field.
"We had a car that was very good on its tyres," said Horner.
"There was no sign of any blistering on the soft tyres and it would have been nice to start in normal grid positions."
Results from Russian Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday:
1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes-AMG) 310 kilometres in 1hr 27min 25.181sec (average speed 213 km/h)
2. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes-AMG) at 2.545sec
3. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Ferrari) at 7.487
4. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari) at 16.543
5. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) at 31.016
6. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Red Bull) at 1:20.451
7. Charles Leclerc (MON/Sauber) at 1:38.390
8. Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas) at 1 lap
9. Estéban Ocon (FRA/Force India) at 1 lap
10. Sergio Perez (MEX/Force India) at 1 lap
11. Romain Grosjean (FRA/Haas) at 1 lap
12. Nico Hülkenberg (GER/Renault) at 1 lap
13. Marcus Ericsson (SWE/Sauber) at 1 lap
14. Fernando Alonso (ESP/McLaren-Renault) at 1 lap
15. Lance Stroll (CAN/Williams) at 1 lap
16. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Renault) at 2 laps
17. Stoffel Vandoorne (BEL/McLaren-Renault) at 2 laps
18. Sergey Sirotkin (RUS/Williams) at 2 laps
Formula One world championship standings after Russian Grand Prix on Sunday:
Drivers
1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 306 pts, 2. Sebastian Vettel (GER) 256, 3. Valtteri Bottas (FIN) 189, 4. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) 186, 5. Max Verstappen (NED) 158, 6. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) 134, 7. Kevin Magnussen (DEN) 53, 8. Nico Hlkenberg (GER) 53, 9. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 50, 10. Sergio Perez (MEX) 47, 11. Estban Ocon (FRA) 47, 12. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) 38, 13. Pierre Gasly (FRA) 28, 14. Romain Grosjean (FRA) 27, 15. Charles Leclerc (MON) 21, 16. Stoffel Vandoorne (BEL) 8, 17. Lance Stroll (CAN) 6, 18. Marcus Ericsson (SWE) 6, 19. Brendon Hartley (NZL) 2, 20. Sergey Sirotkin (RUS) 1
Constructors
1. Mercedes-AMG 495 pts, 2. Ferrari 442, 3. Red Bull 292, 4. Force India 94, 5. Renault 91, 6. Haas 80, 7. McLaren-Renault 58, 8. Toro Rosso-Honda 30, 9. Sauber 27, 10. Williams 7
