Max Verstappen says he took a more aggressive approach than normal in passing Lewis Hamilton for the lead in Malaysia because he knew the championship leader would not put up a fight.
Verstappen quickly caught polesitter Hamilton in the opening laps and dived down the inside of the opening corner on Turn 4. Hamilton joked to Verstappen in the cool-down room before the ceremony that he "could have closed the door" but, with a championship fight to consider and the chance to open a bigger gap to Sebastian Vettel, opted against doing anything risky.
Verstappen says he knew that and decided to take full advantage.
"I had a good run out of last corner and opted to go for inside," Verstappen said. "I knew Lewis had more to lose as he was fighting for the championship.
"I took an extra risk because of it, it was my only chance. I could see he was clipping more than I was, so I was happy to get past."
The win is Verstappen's second after last year's Spanish Grand Prix and, coming a day after his 20th birthday, makes him the youngest driver to have won two F1 races. The Spain win came after Hamilton collided with then-Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg and just 24 hours earlier Verstappen had said during the post-qualifying press conference that he still felt he needed to win a race on merit.
Despite the misfortune to hit the Ferraris, Verstappen thinks it was fully-deserved.
"[In Spain] we definitely didn't have the pace to win. Today we had! I had to really fight for it and look after the tyres so it's different, and it makes you feel better.
"I think the whole race [was on merit]. Once I got past Lewis I could basically focus on my pace and look after the tyres. When I needed to speed up I had the pace to do it, so that was of course very pleasing. Also the first time I've had that in a race in F1."
When asked if the race was made easier when Kimi Raikkonen, who was set to start second, hit engine trouble before the start, he replied: "It's always easier, it's one competitor less.
"If you look at the performance of Sebastian for sure they would've been really strong. So yeah it's of course a bit of a gift in that way that it's one less competitor. But we never know how quick he was or has he race."