Verstappen delighted fans with a last-lap move on Kimi Raikkonen to grab third place in Austin, only to be handed a five-second penalty for cutting the corner at Turn 17.
The Dutch driver was informed of the penalty seconds before he was due to take to the podium to celebrate his third-place finish and could not contain his anger at the decision, calling one FIA steward “an idiot”.
The 20-year-old has since rowed back on his emotional comments, but still believes that in the context of the race weekend, the penalty was harsh at best.
“Of course, at first your initial reaction is something like: ‘Why? It was a great move.’ But when you look at the rules, it was not correct,” Verstappen said.
“Nothing was by the book that whole weekend.
“Drivers were getting off track without being penalised for it.”
However, having started well down the grid thanks to making changes to his engine, Verstappen admitted he has now been able to look at the race result with a little perspective.
“You always need to focus on the positives: it was still a nice race and everyone enjoyed the excitement all the way down to the final lap,” Verstappen added.
“It’s always nice to be on the podium, but to finish fourth after having started sixteenth, is still a great result.
“It wasn’t as painful as most people thought it was.
“In the end, I made my peace with it.”
Verstappen remains one of F1’s most exciting young drivers and warded off interest from Mercedes and Ferrari by signing a new three-year contract with Red Bull in October.
But he did so with the caveat that they must be challenging at the front of the grid.
Verstappen will return to action when the 2018 F1 season gets underway with the Australian Grand Prix on March 25.