Max Verstappen feels his podium finish at the Australian Grand Prix justified Red Bull's quiet confidence with new Formula 1 engine partner Honda heading into 𝓡the 2019 season.

Verstappen delivered Honda's first podium finish since 2008 after passing Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel mid-race en route to third place, fin♛ishing narrowly behind Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes in second.

The result was seen as a breakthrough for Honda, which had struggled for performance with its power unit since returning to F1 in 2015, but Verstappen said ther🍸e was no big confidence boost for him as he was already impressed by the early signs from Honda prior to the start of the season.

"Not necessarily, because I was alr🦂eady [confident] with testing and dyno results we had before we went to pre-season testing. I felt really confident with it," Verstappen 𒈔said.

"When you st🦩art driving, in pre-season, it felt nice. We didn’t have a lot of problems, so I was just really happy with what I had.

"Of course there's st♏ill a bit of question mark how competitive it’s going to be. I think it was more from the outside, people had a lot of questions.

"ꦛWe were always quietly, at least from my side, confident in the package and in the engine especially and I think it showed in Australia that we’re able to overtake Ferrari on track."

De🦋spite managing to finish between the Mercedes and Ferrari cars, Verstappen said he wants to reserve j🐓udgement about whether Red Bull can contend for the podium at every race given the particular nature of the circuit in Australia.

"Every race is a bit too early to say, because Aust꧃ra🃏lia is a bit of a funny track," Verstappen said.

"Bahrain and China, you will start tಌo see a bit more of a clearer picture of what is going to happen.

"But then still, it all depends on how you bring the upgrades to the track, and ho🐽w quick – and that’s on the engine and chassis side too."

Additional reporting by Haydn Cobb.