Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson hailed a 'perfect' return to the points after a strong performance in the Bahrain Grand Prix.
After a difficult performance in Saturday's qualifying session which left him and team-mate Charles Leclerc out in Q1, the Swede managed to battle through the pack to secure his first top 10 finish since the 2015 Italian Grand Prix, ending a drought of 50 races.
Ericsson also stated the key to his strong result was down to a good start to the race, he also mentioned how tough the race was for him due trying to maintain a balance between driving the on the limit of tyres and fuel while trying not to overdo it and blow the strategy.
"I think this weekend has been a positive weekend," he said. "We've been in the mix in the midfield which is a very tight group of cars. We took a decision yesterday to focus more on the race setup rather than the qualifying setup, we knew we'd give away a bit of performance in qualifying, maybe we gave away a bit more than we expected, but still, going into today I was still confident we could have a strong race.
"Obviously, then the key was to have a good start and first lap, which we had, I was running in 12th or 13th after lap 1 which was the key to pulling the strategy off, then as a team, we knew a one-stop would be our best chance but we also knew it would be tight with both tyres and fuel to make it last all the way to the end. It was all about trying to manage and really be on the limit, but not going over the limit."
With many of the cars around him were attempting to pull off a two-stop strategy due to the abrasive nature of the Sakhir circuit, Ericsson believes his unwavering focus on trying to make the best of his one-stop strategy without trying to put himself in harm's way was the smartest option, despite his racing instinct to go wheel-to-wheel with the other drivers.
He added: "Then the second half of the race it was tough for me to pick the right fights because I knew of fast cars coming with fresher tyres and I knew I didn't want to waste my tyres fighting these people. I had to be really clever and not fight too hard, but I didn't want to let anyone past.
"It was all thinking about the end game. In the end, I think we pulled off a perfect race from both the driving, the strategy and the whole teamwork of setting up the car.
"I'm extremely proud of everyone in the team because we work extremely hard, also with Alfa Romeo coming in over the winter there has been a lot of things happening and changing over the winter, a lot of work put in and to be in the points in the second weekend is a great success."
