Verstappen happy with podium finish: "Challenging Mercedes very good for us"

Red Bull Racing star Max Verstappen has expressed his happiness with his podium finish in Australia, as the Dutchman impressively overtook Sebastian Vettel to finish third behind the two Mercedes cars.

Heading into the new Honda era, Red Bull were a bit of a wild card heading into the 2019 season, but Verstappen has shown that he's still one of the best drivers out there. The 21-year old overtook Vettel on the outside of turn three and put pressure on Lewis Hamilton at the end, although the Brit defended to hang on to second place.

"I had to overtake Seb to get the podium which isn't easy around here," Verstappen told Martin Brundle after the race.

"To start the season on the podium challenging Mercedes is very good for us."

For Verstappen personally, it must feel good to start the season with a strong performance, as he was in the worst form of his young career at this stage of last season. Teammate Pierre Gasly eventually finished outside of the points.