Max Verstappen revealed he had not believed he had a chance of victory after his remarkable and unexpected win from 17th on the grid at the São Paulo Grand Prix.

The Dutchman described it as an emotional day after opening with a major setback in qualifying before delivering the comeback drive of the season, while his title rival, Lando Norris, noted Verstappen had got lucky with red-flag rules that were largely opposed by drivers.

Verstappen moved through the field in treacherous wet conditions to take a deserved win while Norris managed only sixth place, in a thrilling race that put the Dutchman in position to seal his fourth world drivers’ championship in a row at the next round in Las Vegas in three weeks. He is 62 points clear of Norris with 86 still available in the final three races.

He described it as one of his best drives with a result he could barely believe. “It is an emotional win,” Verstappen said. “I never thought I would win today. I had a feeling I could come forward. I am incredibly pleased with this result, an unbelievable race for us. I feel comfortable in the wet anyway but when the car is performing you can really pick up the pace.”

His rival Norris lamented the imposition of a red flag mid-race, which allows a change of tyres without losing time in a pit stop, a rule he and many other drivers, including Verstappen, have previously criticised. The race was stopped just after McLaren had pitted Norris, giving Verstappen a free change of rubber.

“That’s luck for them, nothing more. They got lucky,” he said. “A rule that no one agrees with. Probably today they will agree with it, but every driver has disagreed with it in the past. Today it benefited them, it could have benefited us if we’d stayed out, but that’s a stupid thing to think. Of course, disappointed with the result, it could have been better.”