Oscar Piastri has battled to a hard-fought fifth place at the Singapore Grand Prix, helping his McLaren team salvage some pride and useful championship points from an otherwise frustrating weekend at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
Australian star Piastri finished one place behind teammate Lando Norris, just outside the podium spots.
But the result can be judged a positive outcome, a day after both McLaren drivers received a public dressing down from team chiefs for a collision between them on the final lap of Saturday's sprint race.
Meanwhile, once Norris knew he had lost out for the final podium slot, McLaren's reigning world champion offered to ease up and help teammate Piastri as he tried to pass Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton in the final laps.
But 25-year-old Melburnian Piastri, despite suffering bad luck when forced to pit a second time thanks to a slow puncture, still had the composure to do it his own way, overtaking seven-time champion Hamilton on the final lap.
"The puncture was a shame, but I think fifth place was the maximum we could have done today," Piastri said.
"We didn't quite have the pace to challenge the Red Bull and the Ferraris, although being able to get that final position from Lewis made it worthwhile. It was a reasonable chunk of points for the team."
The weekend, however, belonged to Red Bull flyer Max Verstappen, who roared home to victory on his 250th grand prix start, capping a remarkable 24 hours in which the four-time world champ also banked two pole positions and a classy victory in the sprint race.
Starting from his 50th career pole place, it was the Dutchman's second straight victory after winning the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia last weekend, and leaves him fourth in the championship standings.
Verstappen's triumph means Red Bull is now seven points behind constructors' champion McLaren in the battle for third place.
"It's taken a while but I think this race was very good. We had pace when we needed to have it on the soft tyre, even though I think the medium tyre for everyone was more of a struggle," Verstappen said.
"But it worked out, so of course very happy to win here … The last two races have been really positive for us and it's just great to see."
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc finished second and Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli was third, extending his championship lead over teammate George Russell to 102 points and knowing he can mathematically win his maiden title in the next round in Austin, Texas from October 23-25.
"Can I? Really?" the 20-year-old Italian said when he was told the news after his 14th podium of the season.
"Well, let's not worry about that. Let's try to do the best weekend as possible and finish the job."
