Max Verstappen smiled as he stood in the cordoned-off zone of parc fermé, looking happier than he had sounded over the radio during the Hungarian Grand Prix. His second-place finish marked his third podium in four races. But he was still trying to understand how he finished ahead of everyone except race winner Lando Norris.

Asked what went through his mind as he completed his final lap, Verstappen was honest: "'How did I end up here?' I was shocked. I'm actually still shocked." Coming into Sunday, the 28-year-old said he "didn't expect to be on the podium," and the Dutchman has grown frustrated with the car issues his team is fighting. In a slew of radio comments through the weekend he mentioned balance and shift issues, as well as the car being aerodynamically broken.

Verstappen and teammate Isack Hadjar qualified outside the top five, with problems ranging from degradation to aerodynamic losses. "If I look back at driver's feedback in Spa or Austria, they would probably have said that the car was pretty much ballpark to how it should feel," team principal Laurent Mekies said. "That was never the case this weekend."

Technical director Pierre Waché admitted limitations: "With this new car, you see a particular problem every time you go to the track. We cannot make miracles and just make it step by step." Verstappen's late, aggressive move on Lewis Hamilton at Turn 0 could be seen in a pile of highlights. But he still raised reservations about his car. "'It's been hard certainly for the drivers but also the team in these races to keep the car in its window," Mekies said. "Don't count on me to say that we are satisfied because we will not be satisfied until we go back to have a race car that has a pace to win on merit."