Max Verstappen admits he was as surprised as anyone by his early elevation to Red Bull and says he never considered leaving for another team.
On Thursday Red Bull confirmed Verstappen and Daniil Kvyat will swap seats, with the Russian driver moving down to junior team Toro Rosso. Verstappen is believed to have signed a deal to drive for the senior team in 2017 and this week's news was seen as a way for Red Bull to secure his long-term future amid interest from Mercedes and Ferrari.
"Well, of course I was very happy," Verstappen told the Red Bull website. "A bit shocked as well -- I didn't expect it, but yes I'm very happy with the opportunity of course. I have to say a big thank you to Red Bull and Dr Helmut Marko and now I just can't wait to jump into the car."
Though he knows there was interest from elsewhere Verstappen says he only wanted to secure a stay with the Red Bull programme.
"To be honest, I was always very happy at Red Bull. I never saw reason to change and of course with this opportunity there is no reason to change so I'm happy to be here."
The 18-year-old wants to use his early races at Red Bull to properly adapt to his new surroundings.
"I go there with no expectations to be honest. I just want to adapt to the car, understand it better and better every session and like I said before, study the data and see what my teammate is doing because the most important thing is to score points."